Police have registered a case against a doctor at Gauhati Medical College and Hospital (GMCH) after a young woman alleged that he sexually harassed her during a medical examination in Guwahati. The alleged incident took place on Thursday, and the woman’s family subsequently lodged a first information report at Bhangagarh police station.
A police officer said on Saturday that the doctor had been summoned and that interrogation was underway. The case has been registered under various provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, including sections relating to sexual harassment and endangering personal safety, according to the police.
The woman told the media that she had gone to GMCH with her aunt to show a doctor the medical reports of her fiancé, who had reportedly tested negative for HIV. She alleged that the doctor then insisted on examining her, even though she had visited the hospital in connection with her fiancé’s reports.
According to her account, the doctor asked her aunt to wait outside the examination room after asking questions about her relationship with her fiancé. The woman alleged that he asked whether they had been physically intimate and told her that she needed to undergo an examination because her fiancé had taken an HIV test. He allegedly said that certain diseases could manifest months or even years later.
The woman said she initially agreed to a chest and lower-abdominal examination but became uncomfortable when the doctor asked her to remove her clothes and shut the examination-room door. She alleged that the examination continued without another person present and that the doctor touched her private parts inappropriately despite her objections.
She further alleged that the doctor asked her to remove her jeans, citing the need to examine her lower abdomen, and pulled them down himself while saying that he needed to examine her private parts. The woman said she questioned the necessity of the examination but that the doctor insisted on proceeding.
The woman said she eventually managed to leave the room in distress. Her blood sample was collected later, but she alleged that she was unable to remain silent and reported the incident to hospital staff and family members. She said she was crying when she came out of the room and later described what had allegedly happened.
According to her account, senior doctors subsequently asked her to sit at another location in the hospital and submit a written complaint. She alleged that she and her family waited for nearly an hour after submitting the application without receiving further assistance. They then left the hospital and approached the police, where an FIR was lodged.
The police investigation is underway. The doctor’s response to the allegations was not included in the report, and the allegations have not been established in court.
