Meerut: 13-year-old d‘If we post guards at each ward, cost will be too high’: Dalit girl raped at Meerut govt hospital in Meerut; accused heldalit patient raped in washroom at top government hospital; sparks security concern | Meerut News
MEERUT: A 13-year-old patient from Meerut admitted to the orthopaedics ward at a top hospital in the city, was allegedly sexually assaulted by a 20-year-old man inside the women’s washroom around 1 am on Sunday. The girl, a Dalit, was being treated for knock knees, and was accompanied by her mother at the facility’s general ward.Police said the accused Rohit Kumar, an attendant of another patient had followed the girl to the washroom and committed the crime. Her mother was asleep at the ward at the time. Kumar was held later in the day.Principal of the health facility said they have constituted a panel to probe the matter, and “will take strict measures to prevent such a crime in future.”SP (Meerut city) Ayush Vikram Singh said, “The accused belongs to Kashipur, Uttarakhand. An FIR was registered against him under BNS section 65-1 (rape on a woman under 16 years of age) along with sections of Pocso Act and SC/ST Act at a local police station following a written complaint by the survivor’s mother. The accused was arrested, presented before a court and incarcerated.”In the FIR, the complainant stated: “My daughter was admitted to the orthopaedics department on Friday. The horrific incident took place when she went to the washroom. The man followed her and raped her. She then narrated her ordeal to me, and I approached the police.”Notably, the health facility had recently deployed ex-army jawans as part of the security parafernalia. The health facility’s principal said, “We’ve deployed one guard, in three shifts on each floor. But whoever comes to visit a patient here or for OPD, misbehaves if the security guards stop them. Thousands of people visit the hospital every day. We’ve 42 wards, and if we deploy guards at each of these wards in three shifts, the cost would be prohibitive.“This is not the first time that a security lapse has taken place at this medical facility. There have been instances of unauthorised entry into the campus, with the “culprits” allegedly consuming alcohol, engaging in brawls with senior doctors, and even misbehaving with female students. In the past, almost 250 resident doctors had given a “mass resignation in protest seeking a better security set up”.(The victim’s identity has not been revealed to protect her privacy as per Supreme Court directives on cases related to sexual assault)
