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Mentally challenged women beaten
up in Amritsar hospital

After thrashing them, Kashmir Kaur, supervisor of the Dr Vidya Sagar Mental Hospital, pulled and dragged them to a distance 'till she ran out of breath', they said.

Kaur then handed over a baton to one to beat up the other, the sources said, adding timely intervention by other members of the staff saved the situation from taking a turn for the worse.

The incident occurred on Friday evening, they said.

Taking serious note of the incident, the Punjab health secretary suspended Kaur on Saturday evening and ordered a probe into the incident.

Hospital Director B L Goel told PTI that he got the information over phone while he was in a meeting with senior health officials at Chandigarh.

"It came like a bolt from the blue. I was assuring the health secretary that the inhuman attitude of the hospital staff towards patients has become a thing of the past," Goel said.

He lost no time in bringing the incident to the notice of the health secretary, who ordered a probe into the incident and suggested strict action against the culprit, he said.

Only last week, Goel had appeared before the Punjab and Haryana high court following complaints by the state Human Rights Commission, which after surprise visits to the hospital said the 'patients were being treated like animals'.

He had then told the court that a change had been brought about in the attitude of the hospital staff and erring employees transferred.

More reports from Punjab

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