WOUNDED HEALERS

The murder of a young doctor in a Kerala hospital highlights the systemic failure in keeping medical workers safe

- NIRMAL JOVIAL

Since the funeral of her daughter, Vasanthakumari has retreated into the darkness of her room, rarely venturing outside. Despite persistent pleas by family members and relatives, she skips meals and refuses to switch on the lights in her room. She and her husband, K.G. Mohandas, suffered the biggest tragedy of their lives on May 10, when their daughter, Dr Vandana Mohandas, was killed by a patient she was attending to at the government-run taluk hospital at Kottarakkara, in Kerala's Kollam district.

It was Vasanthakumari’s dream to see her daughter become a doctor. And, Vandana, who did her MBBS at Azeezia Medical College in Kollam, was so close to getting a registration to practise and fulfill that dream. But the systemic failure to prevent violence against health care workers culminated in the young doctor’s death at the hands of a violent man.

Vandana joined the MBBS course in 2016. She was doing her house surgency with her junior (2017) batch. The 2017 batch was the first regular batch in Kerala that was required to do three months of community medicine posting in district or taluk hospitals as part of their 12-month compulsory rotating medical internship (CMRI)— which is required to become a registered doctor. Vandana was fulfilling this requirement when she was attacked by S. Sandeep, a 42-year-old school teacher.