Doctor Attacked in Dhule: Safety Concerns Rise as Mob Targets Hospital

A brutal assault on a senior doctor in Dhule has once again shaken the medical community, reigniting painful memories of past violence and sparking fresh protests across the district.

On Thursday, February 12, Dr. Sushilkumar Navsare, director of Sai Sundar Hospital in the Fashi Bridge area, was allegedly attacked by a patient’s relatives following a dispute over treatment. According to police reports and local sources, the assault was life-threatening; attackers reportedly attempted to strangle the doctor and inflicted a severe injury to his eye.

The incident has drawn chilling parallels to the infamous 2017 Dhule Civil Hospital case, where resident doctor Rohan Mhamunkar lost vision in one eye after being beaten by a mob. The similarity in the nature of the injuries, specifically the trauma to the eye, has struck a nerve with medical professionals, who feel that safety measures promised a decade ago have failed to materialize.

“We are back to where we started,” said a representative from the Indian Medical Association (IMA) Dhule chapter. In response to the attack, the local IMA staged a strong protest on Friday, demanding the immediate arrest of the culprits and strict application of the Doctor Protection Act. The medical fraternity has warned of intensified agitation if their demand for tangible security improvements is not met.

Police have registered a case against the accused, but for the doctors of Dhule, the arrest offers little solace against the recurring threat of mob violence.