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The | Mumbai
Updated: May 4, 2020 3:15:36 pm
The alleged incident took place around 9:30 a.m. on May 1.
A 34-year-old doctor was hired for allegedly sexually assaulting a 44-year-old Covid-19 male patient in the Wockhardt Hospital intensive care ward in Mumbai on May 1: The accused had joined the hospital just a day earlier.
Agripada police, however, said the defendant has not been questioned or arrested for fear that he may be infected with the coronavirus. Instead, they said, they have quarantined him inside his home in an apartment block in Thane, and are monitoring him.
Meanwhile, the hospital said it has fired the defendants. “The doctor was on his first day of service, having joined the day before. After receiving misconduct information and according to protocol, the administration immediately informed the police. The doctor’s services were terminated, ”Wockhardt said in a statement Sunday.
Police sources said that on April 30, the same day the patient was admitted, the MD recruited the defendant, a doctor who had completed his medical education at a Navi Mumbai medical school. The alleged incident took place around 9:30 a.m. on May 1 (Friday), they said.
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The police have registered a case under sections 377 of the IPC (unnatural crimes), 269 (negligent act that can spread the infection of life-threatening diseases) and 270 (malignant act that can spread the infection of diseases that put endangered), based on a complaint from the hospital’s human resources. head.
“We have registered the case based on what the human resources manager said in his statement. He told us that the defendant was interviewed on April 28 and 29, after which he was hired by the hospital, and April 30 was his first day on the job. He committed the crime on the second day, “a police officer told The Indian Express.
The complaint indicates that the defendant entered the patient’s ICU room on the 10th floor of the hospital on May 1. He says the defendant made physical advances that the patient tried to resist. “The patient raised the alarm when the doctor assaulted him and the employees who were stationed outside entered the room,” an officer said.
The victim then informed hospital authorities about the incident. “The hospital made the decision to inform both the police and the BMC,” said an official.
“We have recorded a case but we have not arrested the doctor. He was in close contact with the patient, so we suspect that even he may have been infected, ”said the police inspector at the Agripada station, Savlaram Agwane. “We still have to take a statement from the victim and the suspect,” said an investigator.
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A senior doctor at the hospital said he urgently had to recruit younger doctors after making a political decision to keep those over 60 and with comorbidities at home as a precaution. “The hospital has hired some younger consultants. This doctor was not known to many, “said the main doctor.
Wockhardt Hospital reopened on April 23 after being sealed for nearly a month when 80 employees were infected with COVID-19. A BMC official said the hospital, a dedicated COVID-19 facility, has now opened 30 beds to treat patients.
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