Andhra shocker: Patient bangs woman doctor's head against bed at Tirupati hospital

This incident took place weeks after the alleged rape and murder of a postgraduate trainee doctor at Kolkata.

Amid the nationwide call seeking the safety of doctors in the wake of the alleged rape and murder at Kolkata's RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, a woman junior doctor was attacked by a patient at a in Tirupati.

The incident, which took place at Venkateswara Institute of Medical Sciences (SVIMS), was caught on camera and went viral.

The CCTV footage showed the attacker grabbing the doctor by her hair and banging her head on the steel frame of a hospital bed. The doctor’s colleagues immediately rushed to her rescue and overpowered the attacker. Watch here. 

In a letter to SVIMS director cum vice-chancellor Dr RV Kumar, the intern said she was on duty in the Emergency Medicine Department on Saturday. "... I was unexpectedly attacked by a patient, Bangaru Raju, who approached me from behind, pulled my hair and began forcibly banging my head against the steel rod of a cot," she wrote, adding that no security personnel were present at the site to help her. Her letter was quoted by NDTV.

According to the report, she said the incident raises serious concerns about safety at the workplace. "If the patient had been armed with a sharp weapon, the situation could have escalated with severe consequences," the doctor wrote.

The junior doctor also pointed out that no security personnel were present at the site at the time of the incident. Following the incident, doctors of the hospital staged a protest and demanded safety at the workplace.

This incident took place weeks after the alleged rape and murder of a postgraduate trainee doctor at Kolkata. The 31-year-old was on duty. The incident has sparked massive protests across India. Doctors of several premier institutions across the country took to the streets to demand measures to ensure their safety at work. The West Bengal Junior Doctors Forum has called for a massive rally in Kolkata on Wednesday.