Four persons of a family were arrested for assaulting and seriously injuring a pediatrician in a town in Karnataka's Chikkamagaluru earlier this week following a child's death, police said on Thursday.
The assailants have been charged with attempt to murder under the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
The doctor, identified as Deepak, 50, was grievously injured and is being treated in Shivamogga.
According to the police, Deepak was treating six-year-old Bhuvan for dengue in his Basaveshwara Polyclinic facility in Tarikere. "However, after some time, the child developed complications and was shifted to a hospital in Shivamogga, where he succumbed to the disease," the police said.
The attackers from the child's family, being from the same town, knew Deepak's routine very well and assaulted him while he was travelling on his bicycle to reach his home during lunch hours.
Following the attack, the Karnataka Resident Doctors Association submitted a memorandum to Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa, appealing to him to set up a legal cell to deal with such attacks.
"Doctors across Karnataka are putting their best to bring out the best healthcare facility possible. However, it is sad to note that there are more than 12 registered incidents of assault on healthcare workers in the past 8-10 months while the unnoticed, unregistered assaults, and also incidents of verbal abuse, threats, and hampering of duties, can amount to hundreds," the memorandum stated.
