CHENNAI: A doctor, Balaji Jaganathan, who was in his Oncology department, was stabbed by a man posing as a patient around 10.15am.
The accused, aged around 26, tried to escape from the hospital but was chased and nabbed by the fellow hospital staff and handed over to the Guindy police station. The details of the detained suspect were not revealed by the police.
Preliminary inquiries revealed that the suspect’s mother, Prema, was earlier treated for cancer at the Oncology department at the Kalaignar Multi-speciality Hospital from May to November this year. After she developed complications, her son and his three friends visited the hospital on Wednesday to take revenge on the doctor for his negligent act.
Witnesses told police that Prema’s son took an out-patient slip from the reception and waited for his turn to meet the doctor. His friends accompanied him.
After he entered the doctor’s room, he pulled out a kitchen knife and stabbed the doctor in the neck. As the doctor managed to retaliate, he suffered injuries to his ear, head, and upper chest, police said.
The doctor, a medical oncologist, is in critical condition and is undergoing emergency surgery. “He has suffered multiple injuries to the scalp, head, neck, and ear. We are assessing the injuries. His condition is critical,” said Hospital Director Dr L Parthasarathy.
Meanwhile, the Service and PG Doctors Association has condemned the brutal assault on the medical oncologist and demanded the govt punish the culprits. Doctors went on a flash strike to stop services except for emergencies in that hospital.