Thane Doctors Assault Case Ramesh Mhatre Arrested Dombivli Hospital

The Thane City Police on Friday, July 10, arrested Shiv Sena Corporator Ramesh Mhatre in connection with an alleged assault on doctors and nurses at Dombivli’s Shastri Nagar Hospital after he was discharged from the hospital at around 9 am. Ramesh Mhatre, who was arrested on Wednesday, was rushed to the Thane Civil Hospital after he complained of chest pain.

A senior Thane Civil Hospital doctor, who was treating Mhatre, said, “Mhatre was discharged from hospital at 9 am. He is stable, no episodes of blood pressure fluctuations, vomiting and breathlessness anymore.”

“He will be produced before the court where we will seek his custody,” a senior officer said.

Besides Mhatre, three of his associates were also arrested in connection with the alleged assault at the Dombivli hospital. They have been booked under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita Sections 132 (assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty), 121(1) (voluntarily causing hurt), 351(1) (criminal intimidation), 352 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace), 189(2) (unlawful assembly) and 191(2) (rioting).

In his first statement after a video of the incident went viral on social media, Mhatre denied the allegations of hitting the woman doctor. He did, however, express regret over the altercation.

“I regret the physical altercation that took place but I state again that I did not raise my hand against the female doctor. You are seeing the incident through a particular camera angle of the CCTV,” he said.

Mhatre claimed, “She was on the phone and not listening to our grievances, so I tapped her hand. We follow Balasaheb’s teachings; we have never raised a hand against women, nor will we ever do so in the future.”

Earlier on Thursday, July 9, a Kalyan court had rejected Ramesh Mhatre’s plea, seeking to be produced before the court through video conferencing, also turning down the police’s request for the Shiv Sena corporator’s custody remand since they failed to produce him before it. The court directed the police to bring him before the court if they wanted his custody.

The incident occurred on July 6 after a dispute over the treatment of a pregnant woman after the doctors advised that she be shifted to another hospital as Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) beds at the facility were fully occupied. Angered by this, the family of the patient contacted the Shiv Sena corporator and allegedly assaulted the doctors at the hospital.

The Shiv Sena has faced strong criticism over the incident from the Opposition leaders. On Thursday, the Central Maharashtra Association of Resident Doctors observed a statewide black ribbon protest across government and semi government colleges and hospitals in protest against the protest.

As healthcare workers protested against the alleged assault on the doctors, the two doctors Mhatre is accused of assaulting have tendered their resignations.

Speaking with The Indian Express later, the 26-year-old resident medical officer (RMO) Mhatre had assaulted said he lived in fear for two days after receiving threatening phone calls and messages. He also alleged that some unknown persons were following him.

Shaken by the incident, he and the other staff member submitted their resignation letters on Tuesday and have not returned to work since.