Patient alleges sexual assault inside Panipat Civil Hospital, accused booked

Panipat: In a disturbing incident, a 58-year-old woman was allegedly sexually assaulted inside the CT scan room of Panipat Civil Hospital on Sunday, following which police booked a security guard deployed in the hospital’s CT and MRI section.

According to police, the woman, a local resident, was brought to the hospital at around 9.30 pm on Sunday after complaining of severe body pain. Following a medical examination, the doctor on duty advised an X-ray and CT scan. After undergoing the X-ray, she was taken to the CT scan room.

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In her complaint, the woman alleged that the security guard stopped her family members from entering the room and sexually assaulted her. She further alleged that she was locked inside the room for around four minutes.

No other health worker was present inside the room at that time, she said, adding that the accused also threatened her against telling anyone about the incident.

The woman told police that she was unable to resist because she was suffering from diabetes and other ailments. After regaining consciousness, she informed her family members, who subsequently alerted the police at around 11.30 pm.

Speaking to the Hindustan Times, Inspector Devender Kumar, station house officer (SHO) of Panipat city police station, said an FIR under Sections 64 (1) (rape) and 351 (3) (criminal intimidation) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) was registered against the accused. “CCTV footage will be checked, and the accused will be arrested at the earliest,” he said.

Social activist Savita Arya said that the woman was subsequently referred by doctors to the Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER) in Rohtak for further treatment.

Arya also questioned how a male staffer was allowed to shut the door and attend to a woman patient during a scan without any family member or female health worker being present.

Sachin Kumar, in-charge of the MRI centre, said the accused worked as a security guard and was often called upon to assist others in the room. He said the private firm terminated his services immediately following the allegations.

Dr Vijay Malik, Civil Surgeon, Panipat, said the accused was not a government employee but worked with Healthmap, a private firm that has been contracted under the public-private partnership model to run CT scan and ultrasound services at civil hospitals across Haryana. “Healthmap management has informed me that both the security guard, who was allegedly being allowed to double as a technician, and the actual technician have been removed from their jobs. They have assured that in future a woman staffer will remain present when a woman patient is undergoing a scan,” Dr Malik told The Print.

Under the PPP model, Haryana has outsourced diagnostic investigations involving costly equipment such as CT scanners to private firms. Patients are required to pay for such investigations and procedures, although the charges are lower than those at private facilities outside the government healthcare system.

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