JOIN USA dengue patient admitted to a south Kolkata nursing home on Thursday assaulted three nurses attending to him, severely injuring one of them, and fled the spot.
The 24-year-old nurse has been admitted to the intensive care unit with a fracture to her skull and is battling for her life, doctors said.
Subir Saha (27) from Mangalkot in Burdwan district was admitted to the All Asia Medical Institute on Wednesday night. Around 5.30 pm on Thursday, he suddenly turned violent and attacked three nurses attending to him with a metal stand used to hang saline tubes. Typical to the complications triggered by the vector-borne disease, his platelet count was low and nurses were trying to bring down his fever.
Saha picked up the stand and smashed the head of nurse Shipra Mondal, who was attending to him.
Saha kept attacking people who were standing in his way, including the resident medical officer and security guards.
The entire episode was captured on the CCTV camera installed inside the ward.
“How were we to know that he would suddenly turn violent? We were not informed anything regarding the patient,” said nurse Margaret, who was injured, but is now stable. The third nurse, Victoria, is on the ventilator.
Managing director of the nursing home Harsh Agarwal said Shipra is critical. She suffered a cranial fracture and doctors fear she may not survive, he said. Agarwal lodged a police complaint on Friday. Margaret told the police that there was no provocation on their part.
While Saha absconded after the incident, his family members told the nursing home officials that he never showed any signs of mental imbalance or had a history of violence. “His relatives were present till Thursday night, but they also fled the scene later. We sent a team to the Mangalkot address given in the nursing home register, but no one was there. Until we arrest Saha, it we can’t say what really transpired and why he attacked those people,” a police officer said.