High drama was witnessed in the SCB Medical College Hospital campus here on Monday when the Koraput district’s Kunduli gangrape victim was discharged from the hospital after eight days.
A scuffle ensued between police and civil society activists, who had accompanied the family of the girl demanding her early discharge from the hospital. The police had to resort to a mild lathi-charge to disperse the activists.
Finally, the 15-year-old dalit girl had to leave the hospital against the medical advice (lAMA) as the medical board wanted her to stay for a few more days to undergo psychotherapy for she was still in distress and confused state.
The Class-IX student was allegedly raped by four security men in her native place on October 10. But the SIT of Crime Branch police investigating into the case had stated a fortnight ago that investigations so far revealed that the girl was not raped.
Alleging that she and her family members were tortured by the police and the district administration virtually kept her under custody, the girl had consumed at least nine iron tablets together on November 18 in an attempt to commit suicide.
She was rushed here to the premier referral hospital on November 19 in a critical condition. An 11-member team of doctors, including a psychiatrist, was treating her. After reviewing her condition on November 22, the medical board had decided to put her under psychotherapy.
“We wanted the patient to undergo psychotherapy after obtaining consent from her guardian. Since the family insisted her early discharge, we had no option but to discharge her,” said medical board head Dr Sriprasad Mohanty.
As she was leaving for Koraput in afternoon, there was confusion as to who would accompany her in the vehicle provided by the Government. While district officials allowed only her mother to go, the activists insisted her aunt to be with her also in the vehicle. This confusion triggered a scuffle between the police and activists.