As per her statement to police, the woman sent a complaint against the faculty member to the CDER chief, AIIMS director Dr Randeep Guleria, the AIIMS SC & ST Cell, Women Grievance Cell, and the National Commission for Scheduled Castes.
“Tu SC hai, apne level mein reh”, “apna muh band kar” and “kaali billi ki tarah mera rasta mat kaat” are some of the things a faculty member at the Centre for Dental Education & Research (CDER) at AIIMS allegedly said to a senior resident doctor last month, as per an FIR filed by the latter. The FIR has been filed under sections of the SC & ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act and IPC section 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace) after the woman, on April 17, tried to commit suicide, allegedly over caste and gender-based discrimination.
Joint CP (Southern Range) Devesh Srivastava confirmed, “On the basis of a complaint given by the lady doctor, an FIR has been filed at Hauz Khas police station. Her statement has been recorded and an investigation is on.”
The woman had allegedly overdosed on medication in her hostel room, and was found unconscious by her friends. She is stable and will be discharged soon. A resident doctor at AIIMS said, “Two committees, including an internal one, have been formed to inquire into the matter..”
In the FIR, the senior resident doctor states: “For two years, the faculty member has been discriminating against me… I complained to CDER chief and every time she stopped me from giving a written complaint.” She alleged that on March 16, the faculty member used “uncivilised language and casteist slurs towards me in front of patients and their attendants”. She also claimed that he “violently removed her from the seat” and said, “Tu SC hai, apne level mein reh.”In the FIR, the woman said she told him he can’t say such things, and then proceeded to tend to other patients. She alleged she was later called to the CDER chief’s room. “She screamed at me and told me I can’t misbehave with a faculty member,” the victim alleged in the FIR.
As per her statement to police, the woman sent a complaint against the faculty member to the CDER chief, AIIMS director Dr Randeep Guleria, the AIIMS SC & ST Cell, Women Grievance Cell, and the National Commission for Scheduled Castes. She alleged she was “humiliated” from March 17-23, and when a committee met over this on April 9, she was asked to “withdraw her complaint”.
She alleged that when the committee met again on April 17, she asked for the CCTV footage to be looked into, which the committee allegedly “refused to do”. She added: “I took my prescribed pills at night but my headache didn’t go away and after that I had two more… I don’t remember anything after that.”
AIIMS registrar Sanjeev Lalwani said, “The committee called her on Friday but she wasn’t stable… Once she records her statement, we will take the proceedings further…”