Renu Bhatia, chairperson of the Haryana State Commission for Women, on Sunday visited the Lok Nayak Jai Parkash Hospital to inquire about the sexual assault incident at the hospital and reprimanded the officials for the negligence.
A 15-year-old girl was sexually assaulted by doctor Shailendra Kumar at the hospital last month. He was reengaged as a consultant at the LNJP Civil Hospital after retirement from the Civil Hospital, Kaithal.
During the visit, Renu Bhatia inquired about the incident, the presence of female staff and pulled up the officials for the negligence.
She reprimanded the hospital staff and officials after getting unsatisfactory replies. She said she will recommend action, including the suspension of the negligent staff members.
Renu Bhatia said, “The girl has informed that she visited the hospital with the complaint of abdominal pain on April 27 with her grandmother. The accused doctor inquired about her family members and also gave Rs 100 to the motherless child. She remained admitted for eight days. The girl again visited the hospital on May 29 with a similar complaint. She was told by the doctor that she has kidney stones, while in the medical report, it was clarified that there was no such issue.”
“The doctor touched her inappropriately and sexually assaulted her. He also threatened her not to disclose it to anyone. The girl had also signaled a person to help her, but he went away. The victim had informed another patient, who had come there for a checkup, and who in response alerted a staff member, but still there was no response. The girl suffered excessive bleeding and she is still in trauma,” she added.
The women’s commission chairperson said she will write to the DG Health and the ACS Health to remove the Principal Medical Officer of the LNJP with immediate effect, as she failed to ensure the presence of a lady nurse in the OPD during the girl’s checkup.
“There were three female nurses on duty, but then why were they not in the OPD with the girl. It is a systematic failure. I will ask the Chief Medical Officer and the DG Health to take action against the female staff. A female nurse must be present during the check-up of a woman,” she added.
Renu Bhatia has questioned the decision to re-engage the accused doctor after retirement, while the authorities were aware of his tainted past. The commission is obtaining information about his previous cases, and it will ensure that he gets a strict punishment.
“I have asked the DG Health to explain why such a doctor was reengaged when he had faced similar cases in the past. Action should be taken against the officials who recommended his reengagement. The condition of the girl is improving and once the girl is discharged, the women’s commission will arrange counselling for her,” the women’s commission chairperson said.
