Staffer given clean chit over rape allegations at Gurugram private hospital

A person accused of raping a woman in the intensive care unit of Fortis Hospital in sector 44 last week was given a clean chit by the city police on Sunday.

A person accused of raping a woman in the intensive care unit of Fortis Hospital in sector 44 last week was given a clean chit by the city police on Sunday. Police said the suspects, who was a contractual staff at the hospital, was questioned and given a clean chit after no concrete evidence was found to prove his culpability.

The main accused and another person were X-ray technicians who had gone to scan the patient, who was admitted on October 21. Police have now initiated proceedings to quash the FIR in the case. (File photo for representation)

The woman, in her twenties, is a tuberculosis patient and was admitted to the hospital on October 21. She had informed her father about the alleged sexual assault through a hand-written note on Tuesday, following which a complaint was registered by the police.

The main accused and another person were X-ray technicians who had gone to scan the patient, who was admitted on October 21. Police have now initiated proceedings to quash the FIR in the case.

The police on Saturday had recorded one-page statement of the woman, and according to the investigators, she contradicted the details of her complaint before her legal counsel, police, the board of doctors and her father, police said.

The woman is still recovering and is under observation. She has been provided police protection, said officers.

Usha Kundu, assistant commissioner of police (headquarters), said that they have scanned all the CCTV footage and they could not get any substantial corroborating evidence to prove the crime. “The victim has alleged that she was raped by the X-Ray staff on October 7 and 8, but she was brought to the hospital on October 21. She has presumed things which never happened and such cases have been reported in the past where patients undergoing treatment hallucinate and imagine things,” she said.

Kundu said the two men who came with the portable X-Ray machine had immediately left and a woman technician performed the X-Ray. She said when the woman technician, as per scanning protocol, asked the patient if she was pregnant, the woman thought she had conceived, Kundu said.

Police said the main suspect and another contractual staffer, who was questioned along with him, have been allowed to resume their duties at the hospital.

Police said the patient will be counselled by a psychologist.

The police said the family suspected that the incident took place between October 21 (when she was admitted) and October 27 (when she fully regained consciousness). The victim had informed her father about the alleged incident through a handwritten note on Tuesday after she gained consciousness.

The family then approached the police and a case was registered on Tuesday at Sushant Lok police station. A board of doctors from the Civil Hospital conducted a medical investigation on Wednesday and stated that sexual assault cannot be ruled out.

A police team has been deployed in the room and protection has been provided to her. The entire area is under scanner, said police.

In an earlier statement, the hospital had said: “With 58% female staff, women’s dignity and safety is our utmost priority and we have acted in accordance with this ethos from the very start. We have full faith in our system and know that truth and justice will prevail.”