Medical and paramedical staff of Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) on Wednesday staged a strike against the physical assault and robbery of a doctor by an unknown individual on the hospital premises. A large number of the hospital staff including representatives of Young Doctors Association gathered outside the administration office and chanted slogans against poor security arrangements of the hospital due to which such untoward incident occurred. They demanded for immediate action against the culprit. The administration of the hospital devised an eight-member committee to look into the matter of security arrangements. “The committee is requested to submit the report immediately,” reads the notification copy which is available with Daily Times. According to the available copy of FIR registered with the Karachi Company police by PIMS Assistant Security Officer Mahboob Abbasi, against an unidentified individual, at around 4:30am on Tuesday, House Officer Dr Aqsa Tahreem was heading towards the nursing counter in the doctor’s corridor in Surgical Ward 6 when an unidentified man, wearing a blue shirt and white shalwar came out of nowhere. Pointing a pistol at her with one hand, the man allegedly tried to snatch her mobile phone and handbag. The alleged robber also pulled at her face veil, sending her crashing to the floor and leaving her with injuries to her face and arms. Dr Aqsa Tahreem survived when her colleague Dr Adeel Khan rushed to the spot. The robber then fled from the scene. The doctors said that this was not a new happening in the hospital as its security system, that has been installed through hefty amount of money, was unable to provide a safe working environment to the staff. “We cannot work in such an unsafe and insecure environment anymore where anyone can barge in and point a pistol at us,” said a doctor. Insiders close to the matter revealed that an analysis of closed-circuit television cameras installed in the wards had shown the movements of the robber. Moreover, they had allowed officials to identify the assailant as a drug addict. Published in Daily Times, June 21st 2018.