GUWAHATI: The wife and other family members of Dr Deben Dutta who was lynched by an angry mob of in Teok Tea Estate on August 31 last, have dashed a letter to the Prime Minister, Narendra Modi seeking his intervention to facilitate exemplary punishment to the culprits behind the killing of the doctor.
The letter dated September 4 and signed by Aparajita Dutta, widow of the Dr Dutta states, “ We, the family members of Late Dr. Deben Dutta would like to bring your kind attention the barbaric incident that occurred on 31st August at Teok T.E Hospital, Assam. In the said incident victim Dr. Deben Dutta, a 73 year old retired physician with more than 30 years of experience in serving the members of society through his medical practice, was lynched by an inhumane mob which ultimately led to his untimely death.
“The incident was triggered by the death of a tea garden worker who was brought to the Teok TE Hospital at around 3.00 PM in a very critical condition. At that moment the nurse in-charge informed late Dr. Deben Dutta who was on lunch break, about the incident. On receiving the call, late Dr. Dutta without any delay reached the Hospital to tackle the emergency situation within 10-15 min. But unfortunately, the patient who was already in a critical condition expired before Dr. Deben Dutta could administer any medical aid to him. Here, we would like to bring it to your kind attention to the fact that Dr. Deben Dutta was entirely innocent and there was no negligence on his part in treating the demised patient.
“We, the family members of Dr. Deben Dutta are in a shocked state with the untoward incident and are totally disappointed with the failure of the police and other security forces in handling the angry mob resulting to the death of our beloved family member. If we go through the various sources of information including video clips which are available in the public domain, it is very clear that Dr. Deben Dutta was mercilessly lynched by a large crowd of unruly people and in presence of armed security forces who were mere spectators to this illegal and inhumane incident.
“The miscreants present in the crowd not only hit the retired Doctor with blows and kicks but they also stabbed him repeatedly with glass shreds from broken window panes. One of the miscreants in fact used a shred of broken glass to tear the trouser and cut the blood vessels in the right leg of the victim. We strongly felt that if the victim Late Dr. Dutta were provided immediate medical attention, he would have surely survived and in this regard we hold the law and order authorities and the state administration responsible for the delay in providing medical treatment to the Victim.
“We also came to know from various sources that the mob not only brutally attacked Dr. Deben Dutta but they also obstructed the ambulance to take him to nearest hospital. This clearly indicates that the lynching mob had not only caused grievous injury to the Doctor by using blows, kicks and shreds of broken glass, but they also made sure that he could not receive any medical assistance. Ultimately suffering life threatening injuries at the hands of the mob and bleeding profusely for more than two hours, Dr. Deben Dutta was rescued by paramilitary forces at around 5.30 pm and was taken to Jorhat Medical College for treatment but unfortunately by that time he had already left this mortal world.
“ The incident described above is not an aberration, rather it is one in a series of events of violence against doctors in general and especially against those who were working in tea estates of Assam. In this respect, we would like to bring to your kind attention an incident of brutal attack in Dikom Tea Estate, Tinsukia Assam in May, 2019 wherein Dr. Probin Chandra Thakur, the medical officer of Dikom Tea Estate had suffered broken bones and fractured ribs after he was brutally assaulted by a group of garden workers following the death of a woman in the tea estate.
“The aforesaid incident should have worked as a warning sign for the tea estate management as well as government administration and security forces. However, to our utter dismay, authorities failed to take any steps to prevent occurrence of a similar incident in the Teok tea estate and as a result the incidents described in this letter took place which led to an irreversible loss to our family.
“ Again, after the brutal murder of Dr Deben Dutta, yesterday (September 4) a similar incident took place at Dihing T.E where Dr. Mridusmita, Resident Doctor was also attacked by violent Tea Garden mob. It clearly indicates that if exemplary punishment is not given to the culprits, this type of incident will happen again and again in future.
“In light of the above facts, we humbly with folded hands request your kind interference into this brutal incident and direct the concerned authorities to take strongest possible legal action against all the culprits and help the unfortunate family to get justice.
We also subserviently request that you to take necessary step for enact strict laws for protecting the Doctors in general and especially those who were working in sensitive areas like tea estates or other remote areas from violence and untimely death. I have enclosed some of the paper clips of the incident for perusal.”