For two days after he was assaulted inside Kalyan-Dombivli Municipal Corporation’s (KDMC) Shastrinagar Hospital by Shiv Sena corporator Ramesh Mhatre, the 26-year-old resident medical officer (RMO) says he lived in fear, constantly changing locations after allegedly receiving threatening phone calls and messages, and being followed by unknown persons.On Tuesday, he, and four other staff members who were assaulted, submitted their resignation letters, and have not returned to work since. “We don’t want to work in a place where there’s no assurance of security and no respect for us. People think government doctors have power or high salaries. I was working for only Rs 35,000 (per month). We work overtime every day,” he told The Indian Express.The doctor, who said he did not want to be identified as he feared for his safety, added that he chose not to tell his mother about the assault. “My mother is a school teacher. She is a single parent, and I am her only child. I don’t have the courage to tell her what happened. I cannot imagine what she will go through if she knows. Right now, I am just trying to survive,” he said.Also Read | ‘An attempt to murder’: Doctor assaulted inside Karnataka hospital; 5 arrestedHours after Shiv Sena corporator Ramesh Mhatre surrendered before the police on Wednesday evening and was arrested along with his aides, the doctor said he felt a sense of relief but rejected Mhatre’s claim that he had not assaulted a woman doctor. “He has tried to shift the focus by highlighting this, knowing that it is a sensitive issue. But that does not justify the assault on a male doctor. No camera angle can hide the truth of what actually happened.”“I feel relieved… I am grateful to everyone who stood by me and brought the truth to light. I hope this sends a strong message — that no politician, or anyone else, will dare to assault doctors and any medical staff in the future,” he said.According to the FIR registered at Vishnunagar police station, the doctor has been working as an RMO at the hospital for nearly five months. On Monday, he was on evening duty, from 3 pm to 10 pm, along with another woman doctor, two nurses and a hospital attendant.According to the doctor, the trouble began around 6 pm, when the relatives of a woman asked for a bed in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) before delivery. He said the woman’s ultrasound had shown the umbilical cord was wrapped around the foetus, prompting the gynaecologist to advise an emergency caesarean section. As the baby was anticipated to require intensive neonatal care after birth, the family insisted on a bed in the NICU.Story continues below this adAlso Read | ‘I don’t feel safe’: Woman doctor after mob assault over decomposed body at Vadodara hospital morgue“Shastrinagar Hospital has only one emergency NICU bed, which was already occupied by another critically ill newborn suffering from respiratory distress. The family wanted us to give them that bed, and discharge the baby who had already been admitted. We explained that was medically impossible. We assured that we would arrange treatment at another KDMC hospital with NICU facilities, but they insisted on Shastrinagar Hospital,” he recalled.Around 7.30 pm, the patient’s brother telephoned the RMO asking that a bed be arranged. “Shortly afterwards, I started receiving repeated phone calls from KDMC corporator Ramesh Mhatre, who insisted that we have to arrange a bed by any means. When I explained to him that no bed was available, he started abusing and threatening me… There was no way to create a new NICU bed. We cannot discharge another critically ill newborn,” he said.He said that around 8 pm, four-five men, including the corporator, and a woman barged into the labour ward, where he, a woman doctor, two nurses and a hospital attendant were on duty. “The group abused the medical staff, damaged hospital property, including the oxygen storage area, and physically assaulted us. They struck me on the head with a hospital register and knocked my mobile phone out of my hand as I attempted to contact senior hospital officials,” he said.“I was the only male doctor there, so I became their punching bag. They repeatedly punched me on my face, head, chest and abdomen. The female doctor, both nurses and the attendant were also assaulted. They didn’t spare anyone,” he said.Story continues below this adDespite the assault, he said, the pregnant woman was shifted to KDMC’s Vasant Valley Hospital, where NICU facilities were available. The doctor said staff at Shastrinagar Hospital also coordinated with a paediatrician there. “Even after we were assaulted, we did everything possible for the patient,” he said.“This is the first time something like this has happened to me, but not the first attack in this hospital. Another male doctor was assaulted twice, a female doctor was assaulted around six months ago. Senior officials suppressed those incidents. This FIR happened only because the video became viral as there was a CCTV camera,” he alleged.Also Read | BJP youth leader booked for ‘sexually harassing’ doctor inside Madhya Pradesh hospitalSadhana Karande, the pregnant woman’s mother, said her daughter was rushed to the Shastrinagar Hospital after being told she needed urgent medical attention. “We had got my daughter’s sonography done and were told that her condition was critical, so we took her to the hospital for delivery. The doctors examined her and said her condition appeared serious,” she told The Indian Express.Karande said the hospital informed them that no NICU bed was available, and advised them to shift her elsewhere.Story continues below this ad“They asked us to take her to Sion Hospital or another hospital because they did not have the capacity or infrastructure to admit her and conduct the delivery. They also said they did not have oxygen support and their NICU was already occupied by another patient. I begged them to help us. I told them we were not financially well-off and could not afford a private hospital. Travelling to Sion Hospital would have taken at least five-six hours because the entire area was flooded, and even Sion was waterlogged. I asked them how we were supposed to take her there in that condition,” she said.Karande said her daughter remained in pain for nearly three hours while the family waited for a solution. “From 6 pm until around 9 pm, my daughter was in severe pain. She kept crying for help, but we were helpless. The doctors told us another newborn was in the NICU… I said we would wait, but requested them not to delay her treatment,” she said.“With no other option left, I called Ramesh Mhatre dada for help. He asked me to hand the phone to the hospital staff on duty, and I did. I agree that the medical staff should not have been assaulted, but he was only trying to help us. As a mother, I will think only about my daughter’s well-being, won’t I? Because of him, my daughter got a bed in another hospital, where she eventually delivered her baby,” she said.