A senior doctor on duty was brutally stabbed by the son of a patient at the cancer ward of the Government Kalaignar Centenary Multi Speciality Hospital at Guindy on Wednesday. The incident at a premier government hospital has rattled the medical fraternity and they had gone on indefinite strike demanding adequate protection.

While the doctor, Balaji Jagannathan, who sustained severe stab wounds in the chest, head, and neck, is undergoing treatment, the assailant, Vignesh, who tried to flee, was chased by the hospital staff and the public and handed over to the police. The condition of Balaji is said to be highly critical and he is kept in the ICU.

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The Tamil Nadu Government Doctors Association has gone on a state-wide strike. Barring emergency services, doctors would stay away from work at all government hospitals, including PHCs.

Police said the incident took place in the morning when Dr Balaji, Head of the Department of Oncology, was offering consultation to outpatients. The assailant, Vignesh, of suburban Perungalathur, who was accompanying his mother Prema, receiving treatment for cancer, waited for her turn for the consultation. Three of his friends too had come with him. When his turn came, he entered the doctor’s consultation room and immediately bolted it from inside before assaulting the doctor with a kitchen knife. Then, leaving the doctor, he ran away amidst the crowd, but the alert hospital staff with the assistance of the people caught him and handed him to the cops. Besides Vignesh, the police are questioning his three other friends.

According to hospital sources, Prema had been receiving treatment for an advanced stage of cancer and was given six rounds of chemotherapy. When her condition worsened, she was taken to a private hospital a few days ago.

Deputy Chief Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin, who visited the hospital and inquired into the incident, told the media that the youth, Vignesh, had resorted to the attack owing to a misunderstanding on the treatment and his mother’s condition. “The patient was taken to a private hospital where the family was told something about her condition and the treatment which had pushed him to this,” he said and assured the protesting doctors that the Government was committed to providing security to the doctors and the medical fraternity.

Meanwhile, the Government has called the protesting doctors for discussions to bring the strike to an end.

Chennai City Police Commissioner A Arun, who visited the hospital and conducted an inquiry, said the investigation is on and it is an attempt to murder case. “The youth had come even yesterday and had a consultation with the doctor for an hour. He is not a stranger since he has been accompanying his mother for about a year,” he said and denied laxity in police protection for the Government hospitals in Chennai. “All the receptions in all premier government hospitals have a police outpost. Further improvements would be put in place,” he added.