HomeCriminal casesOrthopedician Booked : Female attendant alleges sexual harassment while consulting patient

Orthopedician Booked : Female attendant alleges sexual harassment while consulting patient

Tirunelveli : A female attendant has alleged that an orthopedician has sexually harassed her under the influence of alcohol in Thisayanvilai. Meanwhile, the family of the complainant has demanded that the accused be arrested and called the police “biased” for allegedly refusing to file an FIR.   

According to the complaint lodged by the victim, who recently got married, the accused allegedly misbehaved with her on the pretext of examining her father at Jerry Hospital. At around 7.15 PM, I took my father to Jerry Hospital for a checkup. The accused asked me to wait. At 9 PM, I went to the doctor’s room and requested him to treat my father, citing the delay. He brought me and my father to another room. He made my father lie on a bed and approached me and said he would treat my father in exchange for sexual favours. He forced me to sit beside him and locked the door. Panicked by this, I rushed out of the room,” read the complaint.

Shortly after, she said, the doctor chased her father out of the room when he confronted the accused.

“The police should take action against him to ensure the safety of other women,” she said. The father of the complainant said that the nurses at the reception apologised to him, and defended the doctor’s actions by saying that he was in an inebriated state.

The father and daughter approached the Thisayanvilai police the next day. “My daughter and I had to wait at the station from 10 am to 7 pm. The police registered a CSR (community service register) based on her complaint but refused to file an FIR. Some police personnel said that an FIR had been registered, but we were denied a copy. If the police do not arrest the doctor, we will stage a protest,” said the father. When contacted, Superintendent of Police N Silambarasan confirmed to TNIE that an FIR was registered against the doctor, and added that further investigation into the matter is on.

Legal PrescriptionThe doctors should not keep the patient waiting for long period without any valid reason in OPDIn case of delay the doctor should communicate the same to the patient and their relatives Whenever a male doctor has to examine a female patient it is advisable to have a female assistant or a female relative of the patient while examiningThe doctor should not be in an inebriated state while examining a patient as it is not only negligence but goes against the ethics of medical practitionerThe doctor seeking sexual favors in lieu of treatment will lead to criminal offence against the doctor