Nanavati Hospital suspends doctor over sexual harassment claims

Controversy rocked the Nanavati Hospital in Vile Parle after a Twitter thread went viral alleging harassment by one of their visiting consultants

Mumbai Controversy rocked the Nanavati Hospital in Vile Parle after a Twitter thread went viral alleging harassment by one of their visiting consultants.

The hospital has now suspended the doctor and initiated an internal inquiry. The suspension will be in place till the investigation is concluded (Satyabrata Tripathy/HT Photo)

The hospital has now suspended the doctor and initiated an internal inquiry. The suspension will be in place till the investigation is concluded.

The incident was brought to light after screenwriter Darab Farooqui, who was in the hospital for his son’s medical check up, posted a thread on Twitter on Thursday. “We were startled to hear loud screams and shouts coming from Room 5.....Suddenly, the door burst open, and a girl screamed, her face flushed with rage,” Farooqui wrote on his social media account.

He added, “She was already walking towards the waiting room, where we were all gathered. She was yelling “Where is the head of the department? I want to report this?” Her face was flushed and her eyes were bloodshot.”

He further said that he spoke to the woman and urged her to report the matter to the police, which she refused. “I hope the hospital involves a third party in the investigation. The room from which the woman walked out screaming was under CCTV surveillance. The footage should be examined by an independent party and not just the hospital’s internal committee,” Farooqui told HT.

The hospital spokesperson said that there was no formal complaint lodged with them. “An alleged case of inappropriate behaviour by one of the hospital’s doctors has been brought to our attention. We have initiated an investigation by an internal committee to ascertain the facts,” said the spokesperson, adding that pending the conclusion of the inquiry, the doctor was suspended and temporarily relieved from his duties.

“Appropriate action will be initiated if any wrong-doing is established. We would like to assure all our patients that we follow a zero-tolerance policy towards any incidents of harassment on our premises and that the well-being and safety of our patients is always our highest priority,” the spokesperson said.