ISLAMABAD, Oct 13: A 60-year-old woman, who was brought to the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims) after being injured in a road accident, died due to alleged negligence of the doctors.

In protest, the relatives of the woman beat the doctors at the emergency department after which the doctors went on a strike.

The body could not be handed over to the family members of the deceased till late night.

Police said Abida Bibi, along with her 19-year-old son Farhan was crossing the road when a speeding vehicle hit them and escaped.

The injured were shifted to Pims but doctors at the emergency department delayed the treatment saying it was a police case.

The family members and relatives of the injured persons reached the hospital and insisted that the doctors should provide treatment to the injured. The injured woman died in the meantime.

As the angry relatives beat the doctors, they went on a strike resulting in the closure of the emergency department for more than two hours.

When contacted, Pims spokesperson Dr Ayesha Esani said there was no delay in the provision of treatment to the injured persons.

“Treatment was started on time but because of the critical injuries the woman died. Her son is out of danger and is being treated well,” she said.

In reply to a question, Dr Esani said although doctors had gone on a strike, they did not refuse to check any patient coming to the hospital in a critically condition.

However, those with flue and other similar diseases were told to go back, she added.She said two doctors, Rashid and Rafi, were beaten and injured and a complaint has been filed with the Margalla police against the protesters.

A doctor at Pims requesting not to be identified said the doctors had refused to hand over the body of the woman to her relatives till late night.

“Whenever such an incident takes place, doctors refuse to hand over the body to the relatives and police also ask the relatives to wait,” he said.

“Both doctors and police use the body as a tool for the patch-up and relatives admit everything in order to get the possession of the body,” he said.

Duty officer at the Margalla police station Abdul Jabbar said an application had been received from the hospital management but a case cannot be registered without getting medical reports about the injured doctors.

“Police will record the statements of both the parties before registration of a case. The body will be handed over to the relatives soon,” he said.—A Reporter