Dentist alleges sexual harassment by Superintendent at Odisha District Hospital

Rourkela: In a shocking incident, a 28-year-old female dentist at a district headquarters hospital in Sundargarh has accused a District Medical Officer (DMO)-cum-superintendent of sexually harassing her for the past two years.

The doctor in her complaint alleged that the harassment had begun in 2022 and the medical officer would call her into his chamber and touch her inappropriately. Despite her protest, the 64-year-old medical officer who is also a surgeon threatened her with consequences.

Acting on the complaint, the police registered a case and booked the medical officer under sections 354 (A) (Sexual harassment), 509 (intending to insult the modesty of any woman), 294 (obscene act), 506 (criminal intimidation) and 341 (wrongful restraint) of Indian Penal Code (IPC).

The complainant was appointed under the District Mineral Foundation (DMF) and served as a dentist at the district headquarters hospital in Sundargarh for the last four years.

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As per the TNIE news report, the complainant alleged that the accused touched her back, and shoulder, and even held her hands in front of other medical staff on several occasions. In addition, she recounted an incident where the accused closed the doctor's restroom door and physically restrained her.

Despite feeling momentarily paralyzed, she managed to escape through the nearby emergency room. Following this, she reported the incident to the senior authorities at the DHH. Further, she claimed that the accused had stopped harassing her after the authorities stepped in.

However, approximately three months later, the accused resumed his misconduct. The complainant alleged that this prompted her to approach the Sundargarh collector and file a complaint against the accused.

Following this, an inquiry committee was conducted that investigated the allegations but the complainant claimed that one of the female committee members tried to impress upon her that the accused behaviour was fatherly.

Disappointed, she approached the police and registered the case. Dolamani Naik, sub-inspector, Town police station. told TOI, “Based on the woman’s FIR, we have registered a case and are investigating it."

Meanwhile, the complainant alleged that the accused also did the same thing with other women and nurses at the hospital. However, the claims are yet to be verified.

Denying the allegations, the accused said that the complainant's claims are 'false and baseless'. He reported that six dentists working under the DMF frequently argued about duty assignments, causing problems in patient care. He informed the collector about the conduct of the contractual doctors three months ago but decided not to take further action out of concern that they could be dismissed.

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