A clip of an Indian police vehicle entering the emergency ward of a hospital to arrest an official for allegedly molesting a female doctor has been doing the rounds on social media.
The dramatic sequence unfolded at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Rishikesh, Uttarakhand, a premier health institute in northern India. In the 26-second clip, policemen can be seen nudging aside stretchers bearing patients to clear a path for a police SUV to enter the ward. A group of security officials also assisted in clearing the path for the vehicle.
According to media reports, the chaotic scene culminated in an arrest on the third floor of the ward.
A woman doctor working at the AIIMS had lodged a complaint with the police and claimed that a nursing officer had tried to molest her in the operating area on May 19, according to ETV. The official, identified as Satish Kumar, had also allegedly sent an obscene SMS to the doctor.
The police in the Kotwali area of the city took the accused into custody based on the complaint. He has been suspended from his duties at the hospital.
The alleged harassment triggered unrest among the doctors, who went on strike and protested outside the dean’s office demanding that the accused be sacked, according to an NDTV report. Doctors at the institute have been on strike since Tuesday, although emergency services are still operational.
Meanwhile, the incident has triggered an outcry on social media, with most users questioning the cops’ tactics. “India seriously needs major police reforms,” Udit Bhandari, an Indian social media user, wrote on X (formerly Twitter). He went on to claim that the country’s police force “is really messed up.”
Shashank Shekhar Jha described the cops’ behavior as “shocking” and encouraged the hospital to file a complaint. Another commenter, Pardeep Kumar Gupta, questioned whether the vehicle had first gone through “the process of disinfection” before entering the ward.
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