Shahdol: MP doctor, gunman frisk patients in hospital to seize tobacco; people dub it as 'inhuman act'

Shahdol, Jul 18 (PTI) The civil surgeon of the Shahdol district hospital in Madhya Pradesh frisked patients and their attendants while being escorted by a gunman and stick-wielding guards, an act called as "inhuman" by some people.

After some videos of the act surfaced on social media platforms on Sunday, the civil surgeon, Dr G S Parihar, told PTI that this was being done to stop the patients from chewing tobacco and spitting in the hospital.

In the video clips, Parihar, while holding a stick, was seen along with security guards and a gunman asking the patients and their attendants in different wards of the government medical facility to hand over bidis (cigarette made of unprocessed tobacco wrapped in leaves), cigarettes and tobacco gutkha pouches to the guards.

Parihar admitted that he was seen in the video slips.

He said a campaign is run regularly to seize gutkha pouches so that people can be stopped from spitting in the hospital premises and spreading filth.

Parihar also said he keeps a stick with himself during the evening walk for safety reasons while the guards seen in the video are personnel hired by the hospital for the security of the premises.

Some social media users also shared the videos on micro-blogging site Twitter and criticised the hospital staff's act of taking a gun and sticks inside the wards.

"This is an inhuman act against the poor and weak women, children and patients," a person tweeted while sharing the video.