Ludhiana DC seeks report on alleged harassment of 13-yr-old rape survivor at civil hospital
Deputy commissioner Sakshi Sawhney has sought a report from the local health department regarding the alleged harassment of a 13-year-old rape survivor admitted to the civil hospital for a court-sanctioned abortion, officials said.
{Admitted for court-sanctioned abortion}
Deputy commissioner Sakshi Sawhney has sought a report from the local health department regarding the alleged harassment of a 13-year-old rape survivor admitted to the civil hospital for a court-sanctioned abortion, officials said.
The minor was brought to the hospital for an abortion on August 7. Her mother alleged that she had to struggle for 24 hours to arrange a unit of B+ blood for the procedure.
The court ordered termination of the minor’s pregnancy after taking her age into consideration and she was then brought to the facility by police. However, the mother of the girl claimed that though the blood bank at the hospital had 124 units of B+ blood, the staff was forcing them to bring a blood donor for her daughter.
She said this led to arguments between the police and the hospital staff, following which the bank provided blood.
The hospital staff also allegedly misbehaved with the police official investigating the case when the latter asked for the reason behind blood not being provided to the minor.
“The hospital staff kept asking me to bring someone who can donate a unit of blood to my daughter even though they had enough stock in the blood bank. They misbehaved with the girl as well,” the complainant said.
Assistant sub-inspector (ASI) Radhey Shyam, who is investigating the case, said that the hemoglobin level of the minor was just 6 gm.
“When I asked the staff to provide a unit of blood and told them that I will send a report to the court if they don’t do so, they misbehaved with me. When I brought the matter to the knowledge of the senior medical officer (SMO) Dr Mandeep Mandher, she also misbehaved with me,” the ASI alleged.
“I mentioned the incident in a daily diary report (DDR) and put in on record. I have asked the SMO to provide the footage from closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras installed at the hospital and her office where the staff misbehaved with me. I brought the matter to the knowledge of senior police officials,” he added.
Meharban station-house officer (SHO) filed a DDR after the ASI’s complaint.
DC Sawhney said, “I asked them (health officials) to submit a report at the earliest.”
Civil surgeon Dr Jasbir Singh Aulakh said, “We are looking into the matter. The hospital staff has also levelled serious allegations against the police officer.”