Visitors complain of harassment at Batticaloa Hospital

[TamilNet, Sunday, 11 January 2009, 10:17 GMT]
The restrictions imposed and increased checking by police on persons visiting patients in Batticaloa District Hospital following the killing of a Sinhalese doctor by unknown gunmen at Naavatkaadu Hospital are causing inconvenience and harassmentto relatives of the patients, civil society sources in Batticaloa said.

The visitors, who come to the hospital during visiting hours, have to wait along the road outside the hospital exposed to the weather. No shelters are provided for the waiting area.

The relatives complain that they are subjected to rigorous checking and harassment by the police when they wait in the open for permission to enter the hospital.

Authorities provided additional police protection to the Sinhalese doctors working in the hospital after the Sinhalese doctors in the north and east refused to serve demanding safety measures.