MUMBAI, July 8 -- The medical staff of a hospital run by the Kalyan-Dombivli Municipal Corporation (KDMC) was allegedly assaulted by Shiv Sena corporator Ramesh Mhatre and his supporters on Monday after the doctors referred a pregnant woman to Sion hospital, around 40 km away, for her delivery. The accused are currently absconding. Two contractual doctors, Dr Vaibhav Salunkhe and Dr Shrusti Baviskar, and two nurses, Namita Ubale and Dravya Giri, working at Dombivli's Shastri Nagar General Hospital, were assaulted after they recommended that 33-year-old Priyanka Urmale move to another hospital to better manage pregnancy-related complications. "The sonography showed the baby's umbilical cord wrapped twice around its neck," medical officer of health Dr Deepa Shukla told HT. "Sensing that the delivery would be complicated and the child would need specialised neonatal care, the doctors referred the mother to Sion Hospital, since our own hospital's 10 NICU beds were all occupied." After the assault, Urmale was shifted to Vasant Valley Maternity Hospital, where she safely delivered the child on Monday night. On Tuesday, Shastri Nagar General Hospital remained shut in protest even as outrage erupted in the medical fraternity. A delegation of the Kalyan-Dombivli units of the Indian Medical Association (IMA), comprising over 600 local private doctors, met KDMC commissioner Abhinav Goel and threatened to shut down all private hospitals and clinics in the area unless action was taken. "Apart from their vandalism, the miscreants used vulgar words against the doctors, nurses and medical staff. A mere apology won't suffice; we demand strong legal action," said Dr Rajesh Raghav Raju, IMA president of the Kalyan branch. He added that most KDMC hospitals lacked basic infrastructure and medicines, forcing doctors to face the wrath of patients. IMA's Maharashtra unit has written to the health minister that they must send out a strong message that violence against doctors, nurses or medical staff will not be tolerated. Dr Atharva Shinde from the Maharashtra Association of Resident Doctors said that assaults on doctors had been repeatedly happening in the state. "We will meet the CM to demand that the Maharashtra Medical Doctors Protection Act be made more stringent and security be enhanced in government hospitals," he said. Suhas Hemade, ACP, Dombivli, told HT that a case has been registered against four men, including Mhatre, and a woman....