Hathras Case Comment: Termination order for two AMU doctors revoked
Aligarh: A couple of days after termination, the two temporary Casualty Medical Officers (CMO) attached to AMU's Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College have been called back to join duties and their termination orders have been revoked.
Medical Dialogues team had earlier reported that one of the CMOs previously gave a statement against the FSL report of the police on the Hathras case where a tribal woman was allegedly raped. While the police report stated that the girl might not be raped as there was no semen on the body, the doctor stated that the samples taken for Forensic Science Laboratory examinations were taken after 11 days of the incident which occurred on September 14th and hence "held no value" as according to government guidelines forensic evidence will be held valuable only if it is collected within 96 hours of the incident.
This reportedly contradicted the police statement directly and the doctor had alleged that he might be removed as he expressed his opinion in front of the media and the other was terminated. The other CMO had attested to the woman's medico-legal case report. After the termination letters were issued, the case and allegation grabbed much attention from the public and media.
Also Read: 2 CMOs Of AMU JN Medical College Issued Termination Order Allegedly Over Hathras Case
The decision was condemned severely.RDA clearly opposed the decision of the authorities to terminate the services of the two doctors and it had threatened to take a "big decision" if the doctors were not reinstated. Now both the doctors have been called back on their duties.
One of the doctors who previously received his termination order stated that one of the senior doctors called him and requested him to substitute him as he needed to take immediate leave due to health complications. The CMO informed that after that "I told him I can't come to the hospital without the V-C's order, but he requested that I take his place for the day and promised that our seniors would take us back. I haven't received a joining letter yet, but I went and completed my duty."
The Indian Express reports that on Thursday, AMU spokesperson Omar Peerzada said, "As per requirement put forward by the CMO in-charge have been called back to offer service to the hospital. We are going through challenging times because of the pandemic and need doctors."
An official at the hospital stated, "The JNMC has Covid facility and we need doctors because another medical officer took leave recently. The two have been appointed for another month; we will see if there's a requirement after that."
However, the doctors told the daily that they have not received an order from the hospital about their services.
