A disturbing video from the emergency ward of Shri Maharaja Hari Singh (SMHS) Hospital in Srinagar has gone viral, showing a physically-disabled resident doctor being slapped so forcefully that he nearly collapses.
As per a report by Medical Dialogues, he was attacked by a patient’s attendant, furious after the patient was declared dead despite the hospital's efforts to revive him.
The assault took place on Tuesday, July 22, inside the government-run hospital, which is affiliated with Government Medical College (GMC) Srinagar.
The young doctor, a third-year postgraduate resident from Bihar who is also physically disabled, was among those attending to the critical patient when he was brought in with no detectable pulse or blood pressure. Despite resuscitation attempts including CPR, the patient could not be saved.
Soon after, the attendant stormed back into the emergency ward and violently slapped the doctor, an act captured on CCTV and widely shared on social media. The video shows the doctor falling to the ground as stunned patients and staff look on.
Following the incident, a police complaint was filed and a First Information Report (FIR) has been registered against the accused.
GMC Srinagar, in a formal statement, confirmed that a formal complaint has been filed against the assaulter and added, “GMC & other hospitals are public assets dedicated to patient care, and the healthcare staff working in the hospitals work tirelessly for patient care. We urge patients & attendants to cooperate with healthcare staff.”
Doctors react
However, the medical community is furious.
Doctors across the country have condemned the attack in strong terms, flooding social media with messages of frustration with the system's failure to protect healthcare professionals.
Dr Dheeraj Maheshwari, known as @autopsy_surgeon on X, wrote, “These resident doctors work 36-hour shifts with no rest, no food, and constant stress. Yet they show up every day in overcrowded emergency rooms, with understaffed teams and endless patient load. And this is the thanks they get?”
Others also questioned the complete absence of hospital security, asking how such an attack could happen so easily inside a government facility.
Calls for a Central Protection Act for doctors have intensified, with many arguing that state-level safeguards have proven inadequate time and again.
Just days ago, another such case was reported at GMC Jammu, where a group of attendants allegedly abused and assaulted two female postgraduate doctors after the death of a terminally ill patient. Both incidents reignited a debate around violence against medical professionals and the urgent need for reform.
