How doctors of Shivamogga's McGann Hospital saved Muslim family from mob fury

When an angry mob, some wielding swords, barged into the casualty section of Shivamogga’s McGann Hospital, a family of three Muslims was made to scamper into a room.

This timely action of the hospital staff saved their lives from the mob following the killing of Bajrang Dal worker Harsha on Sunday evening, which led to communal violence.

According to hospital authorities, the Muslim family hid in the room for nearly five hours as the hospital personnel feared for their safety.

Hospital sources say that the morale of the medical professionals was also affected after a person in the mob flashed a sword at the duty doctor, demanding that she revive Harsha. The police are on the lookout for the person who threatened the doctor.

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On Sunday night, the family — father, mother and their child — was at the casualty section when Harsha was rushed in, followed by an irate mob. Sensing trouble, the duty doctor and other staff rushed the trio to a room opposite the casualty section and shut the door, a senior doctor of the hospital told DH.

Harsha was fighting for his life with stab wounds. “The mob that followed Harsha to the hospital was seething. It was clear that this family was under threat,” the doctor said.

So, they hid in the room from around 9.30 pm on Sunday till around 2 am on Monday morning. “The mob dispersed after the body was taken to the mortuary. Only then were the three escorted home with the help of local authorities,” the doctor said, adding that the police, too, struggled to regulate the mob that vandalised the mortuary’s doors and windows.

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“Harsha was fighting for his life and doctors in the section were trying their best to revive him. Noticing that the intervention of doctors was offering little help, one of the persons in the mob flashed a sword at the doctor,” the doctor said.

Speaking to DH, McGann Hospital medical superintendent Dr S Sridhar said they are waiting for the police to file a suo motu case given that law enforcement personnel were at the venue during the disturbance. Sources added that the person who flashed the sword was identified from the CCTV footage of the hospital.

“All the senior doctors of the hospital rushed here to control the situation,” Sridhar said. “It was a very tense situation.”

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