The Resident Doctors' Association of the Medical College, Kolkata issued a statement on Tuesday, January 9, 2024, bringing attention to "unexpected incidents that happened within the last few months" on the college premises.
The postgraduate trainee (PGTs) doctors of the college are alleging that most of the junior first-year junior residents are being subdued and undermined through instances of ragging and are subjected to forms of physical as well as verbal abuse, by the second-year junior residents (JRs) of the department, adding to the many cases of ragging being reported across India.
What is the issue?
As per the statement, Dr Bittu Dhar and Dr Johnson Praveen Ambedkar who are first-year junior residents were being tortured while on their duty by the second-year JRs while they were stationed in the same unit of the orthopaedics department.
The alleged offenders, Dr Souryabrata Ray Mahasay and Dr Diganta Biswas, have been displaying problematic behaviour for the last four months according to the statement. "...(They) are using very vulgar and abusive language in front of patients while talking to the JRs and Interns, treating them very badly, abusing both verbally and physically, beating them in a closed room, punching in the abdomen, spitting on the face and many more," it read.
The statement adds that Dr Bittu and Dr Johnson are currently undergoing psychiatric consultations and are on the road to recovery from the mental and physical trauma these incidents induced.
EdexLive spoke to four PGTs, on the condition of anonymity, and this is what they have to say.
Doctors say...
"We have been treated in a very abominable manner. In fact, every conversation was a form of abuse, and cannot be termed as humane in nature. We had to bear the brunt of repeated assaults and they humiliated us in front of patients as well." These were the words of a first-year JR who has been a witness to the barbarity displayed by the seniors. In a few cases, he says on the condition of anonymity, case files of patients were thrown at them and were also spat on by the second-year PGTs in the general ward.
The JR also says that he has also been the victim of such abuse, although he adds that he was not harmed physically as such, but says his experience was equally jarring. "Usually, one can expect seniors to be a guide or a teacher but the ones in the orthopaedics department are bullies and keep all the juniors working under extreme pressure," he says.
Another medical intern, who is said to have been with a particular victim at the time of the assault, shared his experience with EdexLive. The trainee doctor, in a conversation, said that they usually need to work for more than 30 hours at a stretch and sometimes, this leads to them being over-saturated, hence, the victim had requested help from Dr Bittu Dhar, who had advised him to take rest.
"As soon as the second-year residents caught a whiff of the information, they immediately took Dr Bittu to a secluded place and assaulted him with surgical equipment, electric kettles, bottles, and whatever they could find there," he says. On the nature of the abuse, he says that Dr Bittu had to be stabilised after the assault, as received an injury in the abdomen due to punches blown at him.
Another medical intern of the same unit, says that this kind of intense humiliation can affect anyone mentally, especially after those long hours of duty. He told EdexLive that slang was also hurled at him and when he could take it no longer, he shifted to another department due to the rotational duty.
"Right now, I am in the Department of Medicine, but previously I was given my shift with the orthopaedics and I could work there for only three days. I was left shocked...after eight months of this internship at other departments but I had experienced nothing as such before," he says.
Hierarchy being normalised
When EdexLive inquired as to how this behaviour has been left unchecked for so long, the medicos said that when PGTs turn seniors they commence their year with this aura of dominance and somehow, this hierarchy of supremacy is normalised.
EdexLive also reached out to another intern who said that the department has witnessed it all, including the professors, and there has been corroborative evidence as well. The interns and the residents first approached the Principal of the college, Professor (Dr) Indranil Biswas, on Monday, January 8, who ordered a probe into the matter.
The Head of the Department (HoD) of Orthopaedics, Dr Debasis Sinha Roy, summoned these students and residents the next day, on Tuesday, January 9 but due to the lack of concrete assurance from the HoD, they decided to approach the principal again who then said that the decision shall be taken by an Enquiry Committee consisting professors of various departments, presided by the principal, she added.
She additionally said that on Friday, January 12, a meeting will also be convened by the Anti-Ragging Committee where the issue will be aggressively addressed.
Ragging cases on an all-time high in Kolkata gov't colleges
On August 9, 2023, and September 13, 2023, respectively, the capital city of West Bengal reported severe ragging cases, whilst the first one took place at the Jadavpur University and the second one took place in another medical college in the city, RG Kar. The case at Jadavpur University witnessed the death of a 17-year-old student who fell off the second floor of the boys' hostel balcony after an episode of intense ragging, and the incident at RG Kar led to 13 senior students being booked for "ragging", "mental torture", "harassment", and "intimidation" of the juniors.
