2 months after he lost daughter to brain-eating amoeba, man attacks Kerala doctor with hatchet

The girl had died of amoebic meningoencephalitis in August. Her family accuses doctors at Kozhikode government hospital of negligence.

Written by Shaju Philip

Thiruvananthapuram | Updated: October 8, 2025 08:09 PM IST

2 min read

Kerala government medical officers’ association condemned the attack, calling it the government's failure to protect doctors. (Representational Image/File)

A doctor on duty at a Kerala government hospital was attacked Wednesday by the father of a girl who died due to primary amoebic meningoencephalitis (PAM) — informally called brain-eating amoeba — two months ago.

The incident was reported at the taluk hospital at Thamarassery in Kozhikode, where the doctor, Vipin, was attacked with a machete. The injured doctor was moved to a private hospital in Kozhikode. Police took into custody Sunup, whose 9-year-old daughter died of PAM in August this year. After his daughter’s death, Sunup had alleged medical negligence on the part of the doctors who treated her.

The girl’s brother, who had also been infected with the PAM, survived.

An FIR after the attack claimed Sunup, a native of Thamarassery, barged into the room of the hospital superintendent at around 1.30 pm and attacked him with the machete. He was booked for attempt to murder, trespassing to cause hurt and causing grievous hurt. Besides, the police invoked provisions that dealt with the amended Kerala Healthcare Service Persons and Healthcare Service Institutions (Prevention of Violence and Damage to Property) Act – a law aimed at penalising violence against healthcare professionals and institutions.

Deploring the attack on the doctor, Health Minister Veena George said the incident was shocking, and that stern action will be initiated.

The Kerala government medical officers’ association (KGMOA) condemned the attack, calling it the government’s failure to protect doctors. The KGMOA, an association of doctors working in hospitals under the health department, said doctors will boycott outpatient duty in Kozhikode Thursday and elsewhere in the state they will observe protest day.

An eyewitness told a TV channel that Sunup had been seen moving around the hospital with a bag before noon, and eventually came in search of the superintendent’s office, bringing along two children who were told to wait outside. The victim, Vipin, who was on casualty duty that day, was inside the office.

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Once he barged in, Sunup allegedly pulled out a machete from his bag and attacked Vipin, shouting: “You killed my daughter”. Hearing him, other people came running in to prevent any further attack, the eyewitness said.

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