Aruna Bharti surrenders, in judicial custody

Dr Aruna Bharti, suspended doctor of a top city hospital, on Wednesday surrendered in a local court. Denied bail, she was sent to judicial custody.

Dr Aruna Bharti, suspended doctor of a top city hospital, on Wednesday surrendered in a local court. Denied bail, she was sent to judicial custody. The top Sanjay Gandhi Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences (SGPGIMS) doctor in Lucknow was for long wanted in connection with severe physical and mental torture of her eleven-year-old domestic help (girl) Renu.

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The Lucknow chief judicial magistrate on Wednesday rejected the doctor’s bail application and sent her to judicial custody. She has moved the district and sessions court for bail. The matter was slated to be heard later in the day.

Dr Bharti had been on the run for six weeks, even as she was declared proclaimed offender and the police sought permission from the court to attach her property.

Even as she faced charges of attempt to murder and those under the Bonded and Child Labour Act, the police failed to arrest her due to her proximity with a top health official and a state minister.

A bruised and battered Renu was rescued from the doctor’s residence on October 27 and the incident evoked an outcry against the doctor. Several social and child organizations campaigned for Renu and for the arrest of the doctor but she remained at large.