How the case of sexual misconduct unravelled at Nair Hospital, leading to dean's transfer

BMC transfers BYL Nair Hospital dean after mishandling sexual misconduct complaints. Students demand suspensions and stronger POSH committee enforcement

MUMBAI Hours after the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) ordered the transfer of Dr Sudhir Medhekar, dean of BYL Nair Hospital, to R N Cooper Hospital, for failing to take prompt action on students’ complaints of sexual misconduct by an associate professor, on Tuesday the Association of State Medical Interns (ASMI) put forth two demands.

. The BMC, which runs Nair hospital, had suspended the professor against whom a slew of complaints was made, last week. (Anshuman Poyrekar/HT PHOTO)

The association, of which students of Nair hospital are a part, have urged that an associate professor from the pharmacology department, who was allegedly guilty of covering up his colleague’s misconduct, be suspended, and that both he and the dean not be posted at BYL Nair Hospital for the next five years. The BMC, which runs Nair hospital, had suspended the professor against whom a slew of complaints was made, last week. His colleague guilty of protecting him was also transferred to Sion hospital.

The students’ body has also demanded that the two associate professors be barred from conducting exams for Maharashtra University of Health Sciences (MUHS) as both internal and external examiners for next five years.

A letter given by the association to the assistant municipal commissioner (AMC) states: “A formal (not sexual harassment) complaint was lodged by a junior resident doctor from the Anatomy Department against the said associate professor (guilty of the cover-up), who is also the Warden of Currey Road Hostel. Considering this we strongly condemn the decision of transfer and request stricter actions which might include immediate suspension.”

ASMI also requested BMC that the POSH committee be strengthened in every college so that more women can table their grievances and get justice.

So, when did it start and how did the case blow up?

According to the confidential report submitted by the Local Level Complaint Committee (LCC) on September 5, a female student had first complained to the Savitribai Phule Women’s Resource Centre’s (SPGRC) Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) and Sexual Harassment Prevention Committee at the Workplace on April 8, stating that the associate professor had summoned her twice to his cabin to inquire about her sports activities. During the meetings, she alleged, he had touched her inappropriately, claiming it was part of a medical examination. Additionally, she said, he made certain comments which had made her feel uncomfortable.

While discussing the case with members of ICC on September 26, as reported by HT, students underscored that the dean and another associate professor were trying to hush up the complaints. When on April 10, members of ICC informed the associate professor about the complaints by the female student, he refused to recognise her.

According to sources, on April 15, the dean of the hospital, Dr Medhekar, called ICC and demanded to know why he was not informed about the complaints and ICC’s course of action, although it is not mandatory for the body to do so. Meanwhile, ICC gave 10 days to the associate professor to file his reply on the student’s complaint.

On April 25, the dean shot off an email to ICC asking it to withhold the inquiry till further order, and the following day he sent all the documents filed by ICC along with the student’s complaint, to BMC’s legal department.

Students feel this was a wrong move, especially since the ICC inquiry was on.

After summer break, on June 6, ICC conducted an inquiry and on June 12 presented the report to the dean. This was followed up by a visit by parents of the victim to the dean’s office with a request to take action against the culprit. Instead of taking action against him the dean asked ICC to provide the proceedings of the inquiry to accused in two days, which is prohibited by POSH. Meanwhile the dean kept both associate professors away from the academic duties.

Students claim, the dean and the accused filed an RTI to the ICC seeking the inquiry report, which is also prohibited by POSH. That is when the student turned to LCC, which submitted its report on September 10.

The report was widely circulated in the media, following which BMC took cognizance of the incident and suspended the associate professor. Under pressure of students’ demands, the civic body conducted a hearing on the issue. According to sources, in this hearing, several students spoke up about experiencing sexual assaults by the same perpetrator and around 11 female students filed a written complaint against him.

A student alleged that the professor deliberately withheld checking one of her exam answers and forced her to meet him in person to have the issue resolved. “During these meetings, he assaulted me many times,” she said. Another student shared a similar experience, stating that the professor would call her to his office under the guise of academic discussions and then assault her.

In addition to student testimonies, three staff members were also present at the hearing. One female staff member disclosed that during her over a decade of service, she had never received as many memos as she did during the year under the professor’s supervision—37 in all. “I refused to carry out certain tasks that were beyond my authority, but he still pressured me to do them,” she reportedly said during the hearing.