Police have booked three persons, including two women, and detained two of them after a female doctor was allegedly assaulted at civic-run Sion hospital here in the early hours of Sunday, an official said.

The accused allegedly targeted the doctor when she was cleaning blood from the ear of a man at the casualty ward of the facility, officially known as Lokmanya Tilak Municipal General Hospital and Lokmanya Tilak Municipal Medical College.

The man screamed at the female doctor, triggering an argument, said the official from Sion police station. Of those who had come with the patient, two women and a man assaulted the female doctor, prompting the hospital staff to seek police intervention, the official said.

Police registered a case against the three alleged attackers under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and Maharashtra Medicare Service Persons and Medicare Service Institutions (Prevention of Violence and Damage or Loss to Property) Act.

Two of the three accused have been detained, the official said.

In a statement concerning the incident, Sion hospital said, “There has been an incidence of violence in Sion hospital that occurred early this morning involving one of the on-call residents in the ward. A group of 5-6 intoxicated patient attendants threatened and attempted to physically assault her. She also sustained injuries while defending herself.” Terming the assault “alarming”, the statement said their doctors’ safety is “non-negotiable”.

“This situation requires immediate attention and the implementation of strict security measures in all hospitals,” it added.

The assault comes amid a nationwide uproar over the safety of doctors in the wake of the rape-murder of a junior trainee doctor at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Calcutta.

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