Maharashtra sacks doctor after molestation charge

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar sacked a doctor at a government hospital after a female Covid patient complained that she was molested. But a medical officer said security camera footage did not show any physical assault and the doctor and the patient knew each other.

Mumbai (Maharashtra): Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar on Thursday has removed a doctor who allegedly tried to molest a woman patient at a COVID-19 care centre in Aurangabad.

Speaking during an Assembly session, Pawar said, "A doctor who allegedly tried to molest a woman patient at a COVID-19 care centre in Aurangabad has been removed from service after a preliminary probe into the incident."

He added that Standard Operating Procedures SOPs for such facilities will be issued by this month-end. He made this statement during the Assembly session.

The issue was raised by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA Manisha Chaudhary in the state Legislative Assembly.

Raising the issue, Leader of Opposition and former chief minister Devendra Fadnavis said that he had written four letters to the chief minister on the rise in incidents of crime against women in COVID-19 care centres and sought standard operating procedures (SOPs) to curb them.

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In response, Pawar said the SOPs for COVID-19 care centres will be published by March 31.

On the contrary, Neeta Padalkar, medical officer at corporation hospital Aurangabad said that there is "no case of physical assault." The incident took place at Corona treatment center in Padampura in Aurangabad.

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"Woman admitted at Padampura COVID centre in Maharashtra's Aurangabad yesterday alleged physical assault against a doctor. We have dismissed him. In CCTV footage, the two are talking but no assault seen. We have found that both knew each other," Padalkar said.

"We conducted an inquiry and found that the doctor had called the patient in the cabin and was talking to the woman patient regarding her discharge. The doctor told her that she will be discharged on March 5." she added.

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Agencies