Overview
- Police have registered a case against 10 Congress workers for wilfully obstructing an ambulance at Vithura Taluk Hospital that was carrying 44-year-old tribal man Binu for emergency treatment.
- The Vithura taluk hospital medical officer and the Kerala Government Medical Officers’ Association filed complaints after the blockade caused a roughly 30-minute delay en route to Thiruvananthapuram Medical College, where Binu was declared dead.
- Health Minister Veena George and Welfare Minister O. R. Kelu have pledged to hold those responsible to account and have disputed protestors’ claims that the ambulance lacked valid insurance.
- The Communist Party of India (Marxist) and its youth wing DYFI have condemned the protest and demanded murder charges, while Congress leaders insist the demonstration was brief and cite CCTV footage to deny wrongdoing.
- The incident has reignited concerns over Kerala’s underfunded public health infrastructure and raised questions about the safety of staging protests near medical facilities ahead of next year’s state elections.