A majority of resident doctors in government hospitals across Mumbai and some parts of Maharashtra have gone on mass leave, starting 8 pm Sunday. The doctors are agitating against the recent spate of attacks on resident doctors in areas such as Dhule, Nashik and Sion.

The doctors, in their leave applications, have said that they cannot work under such life-threatening conditions.

Almost 75 per cent of resident doctors across major Mumbai health centres, including Lokmanya Tilak Municipal General Hospital, KEM Hospital, JJ Hospital and Nair Hospital, have gone on leave.

The development comes after Dr Rohit Kumar, a resident doctor at Sion Hospital, was beaten up by the relatives of a patient who died. A compliant was registered in the incident, which took place Saturday night, with the Mumbai police and three accused have been arrested.

Speaking to India Today, a doctor from Sion Hospital said, "Relatives of a patient who was declared dead tried to assault a first-year resident doctor...luckily they were stopped in time by security.

He added that the the hospital is in the process of establishing stricter protocols to prevent such incidents. Proposals including fast tracking creation of new security posts and installing more CCTV camera.

According to a Mumbai High Court order, the Maharashtra Association of Resident Doctors (MARD) cannot call for a strike, which is why the doctors have gone on leave instead. There is a general belief that the supposedly spontaneous decision of the resident doctors to go on leave is a ruse to in fact go on a strike.