Boys Hostel Attacked & Other Fake News on Kolkata’s NRS Hospital

While the situation in Kolkata has been tense, a lot of fake news is being circulated on social media.

(Photo: Altered by The Quint)

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CLAIM

A message on social media is being circulated with multiple users claiming that a mob has attacked NRS College and Hospital, and that they are throwing bottles and rocks inside the campus.

NRS Medical College and Hospital has been on the boil for more than 48 hours with the doctors demanding adequate security after two doctors were attacked by a deceased patients family on Monday, 11 June.

The message being circulated on social media reads, “NRS is under attack it's a warzone here... A huge mob with sticks and bricks has attacked at emergency gate and so we pushed them outside and forefully closed the gate...in meanwhile one of our fellow student got hurt... police is now outside barricading the gate but the mob is huge... few people tried to breech the other gate of the campus too... girls had to run for safety… (sic)”

Screengrab of the message being shared on social media. (Photo Courtesy: Facebook)

TRUE OR FALSE?

While the situation in Kolkata has been tense due to the protest by the doctors, the claims made in the message above are mostly false.

Let’s take a look at all the claims one by one.

CLAIM 1: A HUGE MOB WITH STICKS AND BRICKS HAS ATTACKED THE HOSPITAL

The Quint reached the site of the protest and found out that this claim made in the message has been blown out of proportion.

We found out that while there was a crowd outside NRS, they didn’t force themselves through the gates, as claimed in the viral post.

There was a police barricade outside the gate and the crowd was outside.

The Quint also found out that one bottle was thrown from outside which was then thrown back in retaliation by the people who were inside the campus. However it remains unclear who initiated this.

CLAIM 2: BOYS HOSTEL UNDER ATTACK

The message also claims that the boys hostel was under attack, and that the girls were trapped and had to run for their safety.

However, we found this claim to be false too. Neither was the boys hostel under attack nor were the girls trapped. However a student from the girls’ hostel told The Quint that the hostel was locked and the students were asked to leave.

The Quint also spoke to a student from the boys hostel who confirmed that their hostel wasn’t attacked.

We also saw that no one was trapped inside the hospital, as claimed in the message, and vehicles and people were allowed to leave.

CLAIM 3: DR PARIBAHA MUKHERJEE, THE INTERN DOCTOR WHO WAS ATTACKED, HAS PASSED AWAY

The Quint also received a message claiming that intern doctor, Dr Paribaha Mukherjee, of NRS Medical College in Kolkata, who was beaten up by the relatives of a deceased patient for alleged medical negligence has passed away.

However, this message is entirely false, as confirmed by doctors at NRS hospital.

The Quint spoke to Dr Nirupam Sarkar, ex-house surgeon, NRS Medical College, who branded the news as “fake” and added that Mukherjee’s condition is now stable. He has however been kept under observation at the Indian Institute of Neuroscience in Kolkata.

For more clarity and confirmation, we reached out to another intern doctor at the hospital, Dr Upoma Saha, who too dismissed the message being circulated as fake and reiterated what Sarkar told us.

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