Maharashtra police registered an FIR against Shiv Sena MP Hemant Patil on Wednesday, a day after he made the acting dean of a government hospital in Nanded, where 31 patients died in 48 hours, clean a dirty toilet and urinals, according to police.
The case was registered following a complaint by the acting dean, S R Wakode, on charges of obstructing the public servant from doing his duty and defaming him. Amid outrage over the deaths, including of some infants, from September 30 to October 2, the Hingoli MP visited Dr Shankarrao Chavan Government Medical College and Hospital on Tuesday and took stock of the situation.
A viral video showed Patil handing a broom to Wakode and making him clean a toilet and wall-mounted urinals. "The government spends crores but I am pained to see the situation here. The toilets have not been cleaned for months. The toilets in the wards of the hospital are locked. No water is available in toilets," Patil, who belongs to Chief Minister Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena, had told a news channel.
Following a complaint by Wakode, an FIR was registered on Wednesday morning against Patil and 10-15 others under Indian Penal Code section 353 (assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty), 500 (defamation) and 506 (criminal intimidation), as well as provisions of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, an official said.
While walking towards a ward, Patil asked that he be shown the toilet (at the hospital). As the toilet was in a dirty condition, Patil made the dean clean it, said the complaint. A video of it went viral, which has defamed the dean, it claimed.
As many as 31 deaths, including those of infants, were recorded at the Dr Shankarrao Chavan Government Medical College and Hospital in central Maharashtra's Nanded district in 48 hours since September 30. Maharashtra Medical Education Minister Hasan Mushrif assured that the deaths will inquired to establish the cause and promised things will improve at the facility in the next 15 days amid criticism over crumbling healthcare system.
