PMCH brawl: Medico moves rights panel against principal

PATNA: A day after PMCH principal Dr S N Sinha on Tuesday “regretted” his brawl with PG student Dr Alok Kumar on November 16, the Dalit medico petitioned the

Bihar Human Rights Commission

(BHRC) and the Patna SSP, seeking action against his tormentor who, he alleged, called him names while assaulting him.

Refusing to accept Dr Sinha’s “regret” for the incident and “affection” for him, Dr Kumar said he would not withdraw the FIR he has lodged under various sections of IPC and SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act with the Pirbahore police station in this regard. “A DSP-rank officer is calling me to press me to withdraw the case, but I will not,” said Dr Kumar, an alumnus of prestigious Netarhat Vidyalaya.

Dr Kumar named the DSP, but TOI is withholding his name as he could not be contacted for his version.

Dr Kumar berated the media for portraying him as the culprit without speaking to him. “I will fight on my own. I have no intentions to present my case to the media at all,” he said while refusing to talk to TOI further.

Principal Dr Sinha on Tuesday called a meeting of the college’s departmental heads to “end the unfortunate incident”. He admitted he lost his cool after the medico sans apron, instead of showing his ID card, indulged in heated argument with him over entering a barricaded area. “When Dr Alok claimed he was a PG student, I asked for his ID card. That led to a verbal duel. I lost cool and slapped him. However, it was he who instigated me and the officials standing nearby,” Dr Sinha is quoted in the minutes of the meeting as having told the HoDs.

Dr Sinha also expressed affection for Dr Kumar whom he had described as a “habitual offender” while talking to newsmen soon after the incident on November 16.

However, Dr Kumar’s petitions refer to the video of the brawl and alleged that Dr Sinha shoved his helmet off his head while he was seated on his bike and called him ‘Dusadh’ and ‘Chamar’. “That aggravated the squabble and Dr Sinha slapped me. He then caught me by neck following which the guards standing nearby beat me with lathis. I received grievous injuries, including in my eardrum,” Dr Kumar said in his petition to the rights panel.

The medico has also drawn the BHRC’s attention to the constant pressure being mounted on him by several quarters, including the DSP, to withdraw the case against the principal. “My life and career are under threat,” he said.

Having already written to top state health officials, the third year PG student of anaesthesia department on Wednesday also met City SP (central) Chandan Kushwaha, who is officiating as the Patna SSP, and complained against the investigating officer’s alleged attempts to dilute his case against Dr Sinha by invoking minor Sections in the FIR though it should have been a case of attempt to murder.

Meanwhile, Indian

Society of Anaesthesiologists

’s Bihar chapter secretary Dr Manoj Kumar said the association members would proceed on hunger strike and stage a dharna from December 2 if the principal was not removed by then.