The Kerala High Court on Thursday said the killing
of a 23-year-old doctor at a taluk hospital in Kollam district of the state a
day ago by a man she was treating was the outcome of the "systemic
failure".
A special bench of Justices Devan Ramachandran and
Kauser Edappagath directed the State Police Chief to come out with a new set of
protocols for ensuring security of the doctors and other healthcare
professionals in all government hospitals in the state.
"Police need to pull up their socks on a war
footing," the bench said during the hearing.
The court said that if another doctor or healthcare
professional is attacked, the State DGP would be held responsible.
During the hearing of the matter, State Police Chief
Anil Kant and ADGP Law and order M R Ajith Kumar told the bench that they would
come out with a new set of protocols within a week.
They also told the court that the State Industrial
Security Force (SISF) has young, armed and trained personnel picked from the
police and are available for deployment at hospitals on payment basis.
However, the state government would have to decide
whether they will foot the bill for deployment of these personnel in the
government hospitals.
The top police officers of the state also agreed it
was a systemic failure and that the officers present at the scene ought to have
protected the young doctor -- Vandana Das -- with their lives.
Das was killed at a taluk hospital in Kottarakkara
area of Kollam district during the small hours of Wednesday by a man --
identified as G Sandeep, a school teacher by profession -- who was brought
there by police for treatment of a leg injury.
According to the police, Sandeep had called on the
emergency number 112 claiming that his life was in danger. When local police
located him, he was standing 500 metres away from his home, surrounded by local
residents and his relatives, and had a wound on his leg and had a stick in his
hand.
He was taken to the hospital in a police jeep and
was accompanied by his brother-in-law and a local political party leader.
During dressing of his wound, he got violent,
initially stabbed the local political leader and the police there and then
repeatedly stabbed Das who could not escape to safety, police said.
Das, who suffered grievous injuries in the attack,
died a few hours after the incident.