A 46-year-old air hostess alleged that she was sexually assaulted while she was on ventilator support in the ICU of a noted private hospital in Gurugram on April 6, a police officer said on Tuesday.
The police said the alleged crime came to light on April 13 when the woman told her husband about the sexual assault, who alerted the police by dialing 112 police control room.
In her police complaint, she said she had arrived in Gurugram for training on her employer company’s behalf and staying put in a hotel.
Her health deteriorated due to reason, after which she was admitted to a private city hospital for treatment. On April 5, her husband got her admitted to another hospital in Gurugram, from where she was discharged on April 13.
“During treatment, while I was on ventilator support, someone sexually assaulted me on April 6. Since I was unconscious, I could not react to the assault and was scared afterwards. Two nurses were however on duty around my bed at the time,” the victim alleged in her complaint.
After her discharge from hospital, she revealed the alleged crime to her husband, who complained to police. “A case has been registered at the Sadar Police Station on the basis of the woman’s complaint. A police team was rushed to the hospital to scan the duty chart and analyse CCTV footage to identify the culprit,” Sandeep Kumar, spokesperson of Gurugram Police, said.
“The woman’s statement has since been got recorded by police before a city Magistrate. The police will soon identify the culprit and arrest him,” he said.
Hospital security staff denied any knowledge of the alleged crime, but the hospital later issued a statement on the alleged crime. “We have been made aware of a complaint from a patient and have been fully cooperating with investigations by authorities concerned. At this stage, no allegations have been substantiated and all relevant documents, including CCTV footage from the hospital for time period in question, have been handed over to police. We remain committed to supporting the entire process of investigation,” Dr Sanjay Durani, Medical Superintendent, Medanta Hospital, Gurugram, said in a statement.
This incident is not the first in Gurugram’s private hospitals. In July last year, a 51-year-old Kazakhistan woman was allegedly raped by an attendant of a private hospital. The accused was later arrested. Similarly, in October 2020, a 21-year-old tuberculosis patient was allegedly raped by a staff member of a hospital while she was on a ventilator in the ICU.
