Mathura doctor sentenced to life for raping hospital staff
Mathura police filed a chargesheet in the case on September 3, 2021, against the accused, Dr Dharmendra Singh.
A doctor who runs a private nursing home in Mathura was sentenced to life imprisonment for raping a woman employee. The victim died by suicide the day after the rape. The doctor was also found guilty of abetment to suicide and sentenced to another 10 years of rigorous imprisonment along with a penalty of ₹30,000.
Additional district and sessions judge, Fast Track Court No. 1 (Crime Against Women) at Mathura, Sushil Kumar, passed the verdict on Thursday while hearing Session Trial No. 1238 of 2021 in Crime Case No. 414 of 2021, under Sections 376 and 306 of the IPC, registered at Vrindavan police station on May 6, 2021.
Mathura police filed a chargesheet in the case on September 3, 2021, against the accused, Dr Dharmendra Singh. The complainant, father of the deceased, stated that his daughter had been married in Mathura, and when her marital relationship had turned sour, she returned to her father’s home with her child and joined a private nursing home run by the accused to support herself and her child.
The complainant alleged that the accused raped his daughter on May 1, 2021. Deeply disturbed by the rape, she died by suicide the next day, May 2, 2021, by jumping into the Yamuna River. Her body was recovered on May 3 and sent for post-mortem, which revealed suffocation due to drowning as the cause of death. A suicide note was recovered from the deceased.
The accused denied the charges, and his counsel argued that the victim had been troubled by a marital dispute and ended her life due to frustration.
In her suicide note, the deceased blamed both her estranged husband, who had abandoned her, and the accused doctor, who allegedly assaulted her, for her death. She also requested her brother to take care of her son.
Judge Sushil Kumar held that the accused raped the victim at his hospital, taking advantage of her isolation. The act left her dejected and mentally shattered, leading her to take her own life.
The court, therefore, convicted Dr. Dharmendra Singh of both rape and abetment to suicide, sentencing him to life imprisonment and a ₹50,000 fine for the assault, and 10 years of rigorous imprisonment along with a ₹30,000 fine for abetment to suicide. The judge added that failure to pay the fines would result in an additional three months of imprisonment.
Half of the penalty amount is to be deposited in an account created in the name of the victim’s minor son, who will be able to access the amount upon attaining legal adulthood.
