On Tuesday, July 15, a critically ill patient died in the emergency department of GMC Jammu. What followed was an act of violence that’s sadly becoming far too common in our hospitals. 

An attendant, yes, a woman verbally abused not one but two young female doctors, a first-year PG and a third-year MD student. She didn’t stop at words; she kicked one of them in the abdomen so brutally that the doctor is now hospitalised with internal bleeding.

The patient, a 65-year-old man with a severe brain haemorrhage, had been referred from PGIMER Chandigarh. After fighting for days, he passed away. But instead of grief turning to acceptance, it turned into rage, and that rage landed on the young doctors just doing their job.

Shocked and furious, the resident doctors launched a strike. Emergency services, OPDs, all shut. Dr Sandeep Singh, President of the Resident Doctors’ Association at GMC Jammu, has made it clear: no arrests, no services. Their message is simple: violence is not part of our job description.

To understand what happened and what is next, here is Dr Sandeep Singh. This is what he had to say.

The administration says an FIR has been filed. But is that enough? Security in hospitals is mostly outsourced, and clearly, it’s not working. Doctors and medical students across India are standing in solidarity, demanding real solutions, starting with police presence in emergency wards and stricter laws against violence.

Today, it’s a young woman doctor. Tomorrow, it could be any healthcare worker, the same ones we clap for when there’s a crisis. It’s high time we ask how safe our healers are when they’re saving lives.