A brutal assault against the nurse of Indian origin Leelamma LAL by a psychiatric patient in Florida led to accusations of attempted murder in the second degree with improvements in hatred crimes.
Leelamma LAL, a 67 -year -old nurse of Indian origin, was brutally attacked by the psychiatric patient at HCA Florida Palms West hospital on February 19. The attacker, Stephen Scantlebury, 33, would have attacked LAL while she was dealing with him, causing serious facial fractures. Scantlebury faces accusations of attempted murder in the second degree with improvements in hatred crimes following racist remarks made during the incident.
Scantlebury, a patient under Florida Baker Act and hospitalized involuntarily after a mental health crisis, fled the hospital after the attack. His racial explosion, declaring that “the Indians are bad. I have just beat the S *** of an Indian doctor,” said in court, contributing to the accusations of hatred crime. He was quickly apprehended following the attack.
According to a local report, “Scantlebury beat the nurse Leelamma Lal so much that” essentially each bone “was broken in the face.”
The attack sparked a wave of indignation and calls for stronger protections for health workers, especially those of Indian origin. LAL, a experienced nurse with more than two decades of experience, is in intensive care at St. Mary’s Medical Center, with concerns that she could lose vision in both eyes because of the gravity of her injuries.
The association of Indian nurses in Southern Florida condemned the incident, stressing the lack of specific protection legislation for medical staff. Dr Manju Samuel of the association stressed: “The problem here is the risk for our health workers because there are no specific laws to protect staff”. This highlights a broader concern for the safety and protection of health professionals.
The American Hindu Foundation has expressed a deep concern, tweeting: “A patient in a Florida hospital is in detention after a seriously nurse nurse, Leela Lal, taunting that the Indians are bad” … The climbing of anti-Indian rhetoric endangers lives. She must stop. ” This incident highlights the rising tide of anti-Indian feeling and the urgent need to respond to its consequences.
The accusation of Scantlebury comes from improvements in hatred crimes, which, if proven, could lead to more severe sanctions. A local official of the law enforcement noted that such improvements “highlight the reason for the actions of the accused and their broader impact on the community”.
This attack follows another recent violent incident involving a nurse of Indian origin in the United Kingdom, which caused new calls to better protections for health workers in the world. A petition requiring more severe sanctions for such attacks has already collected more than 9,500 signatures, reflecting generalized public support for change.
