The alleged killing of a patient in the psychiatry department of SCB Medical College and Hospital has drawn questions over the hospital administration’s silence. Authorities have not so far ordered an internal inquiry, and there are allegations that they are trying to shield staff.
Mangalabag police have stepped up the probe. Three people — two security guards and an attendant — have been detained and are being questioned. Police have also seized CCTV footage from the night of September 29. The footage is said to show the three detained staff kicking the deceased, identified as Srikanth, inside the ward, which has deepened suspicion. The detained staff have denied any murder. During questioning they told police that Srikanth was neither beaten nor attacked.
The department has a record of earlier incidents that, critics say, were played down. Allegations have long circulated that patients’ hands and feet were tied and they were beaten. About a month and a half ago, a psychiatry patient went missing despite security staff being on duty; police later recovered the body from the Mahanadi. In the past two months, about ten complaints of assault have been reported from the ward. Earlier, a patient was found to have died by suicide, hanging from a fan, even though staff and guards were present. Relatives and others have asked how patients can be expected to trust the ward for treatment if such incidents continue, and have demanded an inquiry into the legal basis on which staff are alleged to have used force.
Police have seized the duty register for the day of the incident and are checking who was on shift and when staff arrived and left. Five more employees have been called to the station and questioned as witnesses. The preliminary post-mortem report is expected on Friday. Viscera samples have been sent to the laboratory at Rasulgarh. Police said the cause of death should become clearer once those reports are in.
