A Shocking Incident at BHU

Yesterday, I witnessed something truly inhuman and shocking at BHU. I have already had many bad experiences with BHU, but what I saw this time left me speechless. I had gone to the Institute of Medical Sciences (IMS) at BHU. After parking my bike, I noticed a group of people standing near the main gate of the IMS building. It seemed unusual, since security usually does not allow public gatherings there. Curious, I went closer and found that an injured and unconscious man—almost on the verge of death—was lying on the ground.

He had injuries on his face and, from what people were saying, he might have also suffered an epileptic attack. I overheard that someone had beaten him. At least ten people stood around, but nobody was willing to take him to the hospital. They said they had already informed the police and would wait for them to arrive. What shocked me even more was that, despite being inside a medical institute, with doctors constantly passing by, not a single doctor stopped to help him. This was happening in the premises of one of India’s best-known medical colleges, a place respected worldwide.

Eventually, the police arrived. They asked a few questions but seemed completely uninterested in helping. Two policemen sat casually on their bike, laughing and chatting, right next to this dying man. A few minutes later, one of them walked over and half-heartedly tried to wake him up. Instead of calling for medical help, they nudged him with their feet and even dragged him on the road, hoping he would somehow get up. But he couldn’t—he was in no condition to move. Finally, the police just left, doing nothing.

I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. Here was a man in urgent need of medical assistance, lying inside the premises of a premier medical college of India, yet doctors, police, and bystanders all ignored him. Eventually, two students came with a first aid box, but they were not doctors, and the man clearly needed far more than first aid. They too said they would first inform the police before helping, because they didn’t feel safe intervening without police approval. Then I learned the reason why everyone was hesitating—people said this man was a thief, caught trying to steal something from the IMS building. Maybe that was true, maybe not.

But even if he was a thief, did he not deserve basic medical treatment? A human life was at risk. It was cruel beyond words. In our country, we spend over ₹8,00,500 per day to keep Ajmal Kasab—the terrorist who killed hundreds of people at the Taj—alive in jail. Yet here, in one of our best medical institutions, a man possibly dying in front of doctors and police was denied even basic first aid, just because he was accused of being a thief. What I saw was heartbreaking and inhuman. I have no words strong enough to describe the cruelty and indifference I witnessed yesterday.