A junior doctor at Tezpur Medical College and Hospital (TMCH) in Assam has been suspended for allegedly misbehaving with female hospital interns. On Monday, the doctor Rakesh Medhi, a TMCH postgraduate student of surgery, was suspended for six months. TMCH Principal Dr. Karuna Hazarika stated, “The doctor has been suspended, and we have contacted the district officials about the move.”
Story on Twitter
A female intern at the hospital wrote to Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Twitter, stating that the doctor had misbehaved with her and other female coworkers while on duty Sonitpur SP Dr. Dhananjay P Ghanwat said the state police were called to investigate the incident after an hour.
Her Twitter handle was taken by a female intern, who wrote to Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma. She claims that during duty hours, junior doctor Medhi misbehaved with her and other female colleagues.
According to Sonitpur SP Dr. Dhananjay P Ghanwat, the state police were requested to examine the event after the tweet.
News disseminated via social media platforms
After complaints of alleged harassment of female MBBS interns were brought to the attention of Union Minister Smriti Irani, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, and Assam Police via social media channels, the Principal of TMCH ordered an interview.
“An increase in the number of women interns being harassed by senior PGs has been observed at Tezpur Medical College. Please investigate this situation. Several people are mute because they are terrified,” one user, Anshul ka bhai1, tweeted.
Charges being investigated by the police
The Assam Police responded quickly to the tweet and ordered the accused to be investigated by the Superintendent of Police (SP) of the Sonitpur district. The Sonitpur SP has directed the TMCH’s Principal-cum-Chief Superintendent to investigate the allegations.
The doctor’s hostel room has also been asked to be vacated. Dhananjay P. Ghanwat, the superintendent of police in Sonitpur, said police were looking into the claims made by the hospital’s female intern (who had made the complaint on Twitter).
Other Cases: A ward child killed a medical student in the ICU
On May 9, 2014, a lady doctor named Sarita Toshniwal was assassinated by a PG student at the Assam Medical College & Hospital (AMCH) in Dibrugarh. Dr. Sarita was assassinated while on night duty at the AMCH. “Any form of harassment directed at any female MBBS intern or doctor will not be permitted under any circumstances,” a TMCH doctor said.
College and Hospital (AMCH) in Dibrugarh was assassinated in the ICU of the northeast’s oldest healthcare institute, probably following a botched rape attempt.
The ICU ward boy was apprehended with scratches on his face, sparking suspicions that he may have tried to offend Sarita Tashniwal’s modesty before stabbing her in the neck with a surgical knife.
The storey reminded me of the terrible Aruna Shaunbagh case from 1973, in which a young nurse at a Mumbai hospital was sexually attacked by a ward boy. Since the rapist attempted to kill her by tying an iron chain around her neck, the victim has remained in a vegetative condition.
