SUBHASH MISHRA
Dhanbad, Sept 23: Assaults and harassment of lady doctors in Jharkhand’s medical colleges are on the rise, even after the Supreme Court (SC) issued stern guidelines following the RG Kar Medical College Hospital incident in Kolkata in 2024.
On September 19, an intern at SNMMCH Dhanbad was misbehaved with by a representative of an MP inside the hospital premises. In another incident, a rowdy youth was found sleeping in the girls’ hostel at PHMCH Dumka.
Earlier this year, two MBBS students were roughed up at the gate of MMCH Palamu in May, and two senior resident doctors were assaulted in RIMS Ranchi in June 2025. Similarly, in May 2025, a postgraduate-bound medico was harassed in SBMCH Hazaribagh.
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Lack of Accountability in Institutions
In all these cases, the accused managed to escape without facing any legal punishment. Shockingly, the respective institutions refrained from filing institutional FIRs, leaving the victim doctors to fight for justice on their own.
However, at SNMMCH Dhanbad, nodal officer Dr. C.S. Suman confirmed that the superintendent had submitted a written institutional complaint to the police, seeking action against the accused.
RIMS Incidents Reflect Weak Enforcement
RIMS Ranchi has witnessed two major incidents within the past year. Under pressure from the Junior Doctors Association (JDA), the management filed an institutional FIR in one case but quietly closed another case by merely removing a home guard involved.
This selective response has raised questions about the seriousness of safety measures at one of the state’s premier medical institutions.
Doctors’ Associations Voice Concerns
According to Junior Doctors Network (JDN) state general secretary Dr. Raghvendra Kumar, female doctors—particularly those preparing for postgraduate studies—remain “soft targets” in Jharkhand’s medical colleges.
He said, “We had high hopes that managements would implement the SC’s safety guidelines after the Kolkata incident, but none of the institutions seem to have learned any lessons. Otherwise, such incidents would not have continued.”
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JDA president at RIMS, Dr. Ankit Kumar, who led the nationwide agitation after the RG Kar incident in 2024, acknowledged that RIMS has adopted some of the Supreme Court’s safety directives. However, he noted that “several steps still need to be taken to instill a real sense of security among lady doctors.”
Call for State-Level Action
JDN state chairman Dr. Sushil Kumar warned that enough time has passed without meaningful change. “Much water has flown in the rivers of Jharkhand. Now doctors will take direct action at the state level to ensure the safety of lady medicos in all medical college hospitals,” he said on Tuesday.
