7 booked for attacking Kovai hospital staff after kin dies of COVID

Police said a 62-year-old man had succumbed to the infection while undergoing treatment at the private hospital in Sundarapuram on May 29. A month after his death, seven persons came to the hospital on Thursday and broke into a quarrel with the staff regarding the medical charges. They alleged poor treatment and were also infuriated after the hospital refused to provide some documents related to the treatment. The quarrel turned ugly as the men began to assault the staff, snatched the phone of a doctor and flung it to the ground.

Following a complaint, the Podanur police registered cases against the seven persons under various sections of the IPC, including section 4 (Cognisance of offence) of the Tamil Nadu Medicare Service Persons and Medicare Service Institutions (Prevention of Violence and Damage or Loss to Property) Act, 2008, along with sections 294 (b) (Uttering obscenities), 323 (Punishment for voluntarily causing hurt), 324 (Voluntarily causing hurt by dangerous weapons or means) and 506 (1) (Punishment for criminal intimidation). Police claimed that they have identified the accused persons based on CCTV images and efforts are on to nab them