Overview

• On July 22, CCTV footage showed a patient’s attendant slapping Dr Shahnawaz, a third-year medicine postgraduate, inside the emergency ward of SMHS Hospital in Srinagar.
• Hundreds of doctors from GMC Srinagar and affiliated hospitals demonstrated on July 23, demanding justice and safer working conditions.
• The GMC Srinagar administration registered an FIR against the assailant, and Jammu and Kashmir officials pledged prompt legal proceedings.
• This assault marks the second attack on a doctor in Jammu and Kashmir within a week and follows a nationwide uptick in violence against medical staff.
• Medical associations and hospitals are reviewing security measures and calling for stronger statutory protections under laws like the Medicare Service Persons and Institutions Act.