A resident doctor at the BJ Medical college attempted suicide alleging that he was not allotted work because o... Read More

AHMEDABAD: A resident doctor at the BJ Medical college attempted suicide alleging that he was not allotted work because of “caste discrimination”. He had earlier made complaints regarding discrimination and threatened to commit suicide.

Third year PG surgery student M Marirajan, 30, who got admission in the all-India quota from Tamil Nadu under the Scheduled Caste (SC) quota, took an overdose of sleeping pills on Friday noon. He is being treated at the Civil Hospital and his condition was reported to be stable.

While the doctor alleged non-allotment of work, the college and Civil Hospital authorities deny the charge. They, on the other hand, claimed that the doctor always shied away from work.

Marirajan had earlier made a written complaint to college authorities that he was feeling discriminated against and demanded work. Director of PG section Hansa Goswami said that since he had threatened to commit suicide, the college tendered an application before police in this regard a month ago intimating that the student had suicidal tendency.

“A committee was also formed to look into the student’s complaint. The committee came to know that Marirajan did not want to work at all and he was always found absent from the college after 5 pm,” she said. However, Shweta Shrimali, DCP (Zone 4), denied having received any such application from the medical college.

No show of bias, hospital chief says

Civil Hospital’s superintendent M M Prabhakar said, “Marirajan was not ready to undertake any work that was allotted to other students of his batch.

He was insisting that he should be allowed to conduct a surgery and this was not possible. There is no question of discriminating against him on the basis of caste.”

After a preliminary inquiry, Shrimali said that since Marirajan was semiconscious, his statement could not be recorded. Another official said that Marirajan went to the operation theatre in the afternoon. Dr Utkarsh Shah and Dr Niel Patel did not allow him inside.

After being allegedly verbally abused, Marirajan raised the issue before an associate professor, Vikram Mehta, but apparently no action was taken, said a senior police official.

