Bhopal, Aug 4 (PTI) The stir by junior doctors in Gandhi Medical College in Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh over the suicide of a colleague continued for the fourth day on Friday even as a Congress Lok Sabha MP from Kerala wrote to Union Home Minister Amit Shah seeking the latter's intervention to punish those responsible for the death.

Dr Saraswati Bala of the gynaecology department died on July 31 after she allegedly injected an anesthetic, with protesting doctors claiming the department head had created a "toxic work culture".

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"I wrote the letter after the deceased's parents and friends brought the incident to my notice," Chalakudy MP Benny Behanan told PTI over phone.

In his August 3 letter to Shah, Behanan sought a detailed inquiry against former head of the gynaecology department Dr Aruna Kumar.

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"Immediate steps should be taken to ensure a healthy working environment and check abuse of toxicity in GMC college departments," he said in the letter, which also underlined the need for reforms for appointment of HODs based on their record of dealing with students.

"Yourself is aware about the suicide of Dr Bala at GMC in the early hours of July 31. She was a native of Andhra Pradesh and was a third-year PG resident in Gynaecology, aged 27 and 14 weeks pregnant," he said in the letter to Shah.

Behanan's letter said the deceased had, in her suicide note alleged "she was taking this extreme step due to harassment at the hands of her college faculty".

"It was alleged by several students and their groups that Dr Aruna Kumar, HoD, had a role to play in the young doctor's suicide. She allegedly harassed Dr Bala and did not sign her attendance or thesis nor permitted her to take maternity leave," the LS MP said in the letter.

The letter stated that students of the GMC's gynaecology department have claimed that faculty members abuse them physically and verbally and even beat them with OT instruments.

Meanwhile, Dr Sanket Site, president of the GMC unit of JUDA, an association of junior doctors, told PTI that the protesting doctors were eager to resume work but the prevailing "toxic culture" must go.

He claimed a PG student of the pediatrics department had ended her life on January 4 this year.

Site said 50 to 70 senior resident doctors had joined their strike on Friday.

Protesting doctors said they have been seeking the transfer from GMC of Dr Kumar, who was removed as head of the obstetrics and gynaecology department two days earlier.

The stir affected medical services in GMC for the fourth consecutive day.

Dr Aruna Kumar could not be contacted despite repeated attempts.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)