Mumbai male nurse gets 5-year jail term for molesting patient in ICU

The sessions court rejected the defence’s plea for leniency, citing the patient’s vulnerable condition and the breach of trust involved in the 2016 incident.

A male nurse who molested a woman patient while she was being treated for acute abdominal pain in the intensive care unit (ICU) of Joy Hospital in Chembur has been sentenced to five years’ rigorous imprisonment by a sessions court, which held that he had exploited her vulnerable condition and abused the trust placed in healthcare workers.

CCTV footage recorded between 3.30 am and 3.50 am showed Sanjay Mahesh Yadav molesting the patient, helping corroborate her account of the incident. (PTI/Representational)

Additional sessions judge VB Bohra convicted Sanjay Mahesh Yadav of sexual harassment and assault with the intention of disrobing a woman in connection with the October 2016 incident. The court relied on the patient’s testimony, corroborative evidence from witnesses and CCTV footage that captured the nurse molesting her inside the ICU. The sentences of three and five years will run concurrently.

According to the prosecution, the woman had initially visited the hospital for acute abdominal pain but began vomiting on her way home following the consultation. She returned to the hospital and was admitted to the ICU for further treatment, continuing to suffer pain through the night.

Patient recounts alleged assault after becoming drowsy

She told the court that after a doctor visited her at around 1.30 am, she became unconscious or drowsy. She later felt someone touching her breast and other parts of her body. When she opened her eyes, she saw Yadav with her T-shirt pulled upwards and liquid being applied to her stomach.

Yadav allegedly told her that he was preparing to conduct an electrocardiogram (ECG) and gave her a tablet, after which she again became unconscious or drowsy, the woman testified. She alleged that he subsequently removed her T-shirt and touched her body.

The following morning, the woman reported the incident to her treating doctors, including Dr Vikrant and Dr Sakshi. On checking her medical records, they found no entry documenting an ECG or the administration of a tablet at the relevant time. After reviewing the CCTV footage, hospital staff informed Chembur police with the woman’s consent.

Friend and hospital staff corroborate patient’s account

Upholding the woman’s account, the court found her testimony credible and noted that the defence had failed to establish any material contradiction or omission during cross-examination. Her account was also supported by the doctors, hospital staff and a friend who had waited outside the ICU through the night.

The friend told the court that the woman had disclosed the incident to her at around 7 am. She appeared traumatised and was unwilling to continue her stay in the hospital, the friend said.

The judge also relied on CCTV footage recorded between 3.30 am and 3.50 am, which showed Yadav molesting the patient. Rejecting the defence’s claim that the footage had been fabricated or edited, the court observed that there was no evidence of any prior enmity between Yadav and the hospital management. It held that the woman’s testimony, supported by the other evidence, was sufficient to establish the offences.

Yadav denied the allegations and claimed that the footage was false. Seeking leniency, his lawyer told the court that Yadav was young and unmarried, and had recently lost his father. His mother, who suffered from paralysis, depended on him, as did his divorced sister and her young child.

Court rejects plea for leniency despite family circumstances

The court, however, rejected the plea for a lenient sentence, underscoring the seriousness of the offence and the breach of trust involved. Yadav had abused his position as a healthcare worker to target a patient who was receiving treatment in an ICU, the judge observed. The woman was already suffering from pain and was under medication, and the incident had left her traumatised and prompted her to seek an early discharge, the court noted.

Yadav was sentenced to three years’ rigorous imprisonment and fined ₹5,000 for sexual harassment. He was also sentenced to five years’ rigorous imprisonment and fined ₹20,000 for assault with the intention of disrobing the woman.

The court directed that ₹20,000 be paid to the woman as compensation from the fine, subject to the appeal period and the outcome of any appeal.