A patient was assaulted by a staff nurse in Maungdaw general hospital on January 25, a local from Maungdaw said.
The patient was Mrs. Nurul Saba (35) from Kha Moungzeik (Fakira Bazaar).

Nurul Saba was admitted because she was weak and suffering for a long time from malaria, said a relative.

The staff nurse gave her a saline drip which had become empty. Nobody came to check that blood had oozed in to the drip, the relative added.

After the nurse was informed by other patients, she came to the patient’s bed and slapped the patient, said a patient who was in the room.

“Why didn’t you take out the saline needle from your hand?” the nurse asked Nurul Saba. “If you had taken it out I would not need to come to take it out and there was no need to report to the doctor.”

The nurse is supposed to take care of patients in the hospital, not slap patients, said a student from Maungdaw.

“If the patient was an Arakanese Rakhine, the nurse would not have slapped the patient. But, the patient is Arakanese Rohingya,” the student said.

In Maungdaw hospital, patients have to buy all medicines and other materials for the hospital. Besides, the patient has to pay money to the nurse to take care of the patient, said a school teacher from Maungdaw.

In Maungdaw hospital, most of the people are Arakanese Rakhine and Arakanese Rohingya. But, for Arakanese Rohingya it is difficult to get treatment in the hospital, the teacher said.