Covid patient says doctor molested her in hospital

Noida: A 20-year-old woman, who tested positive for Covid-19 on July 21, has accused a doctor of molesting her inside the isolation ward of Jaypee Hospital in Sector 128. He has been booked.
The doctor, who is a consultant for pulmonary medicine at the hospital, had been sharing the isolation ward with the woman ever since he, too, was found to have Covid on July 23. He was part of the hospital’s Covid team and had treated several patients in the ICU. He is believed to have contracted the infection from there.
The woman — a third-year student of a prominent college under Delhi University — had got herself admitted at Jaypee Hospital after visiting several hospitals in Noida on July 21. “My sister had been staying alone in the twin-sharing ward. The doctor joined her two days later,” her brother said.
The woman alleged that the doctor tried to become friendly with her from the first day itself, telling her that he had contacts in almost all hospitals across NCR.
“He would often flaunt how he knew everyone in the hospital. He even told me he had a daughter, which made me believe he was a family man and could do no harm. However, two days ago, I got really tired after a 40-minute walk and he offered to check if I had developed a clot in my legs. He pressed my legs that day,” she said.
As both were slated to be discharged from the hospital in a few days, the doctor allegedly told the woman he needed to check her again for post-Covid symptoms. “He claimed that blood clotting was one of the symptoms for Covid and he could check me for that. He touched me inappropriately and molested me,” she alleged.
As the woman felt uncomfortable, she called up a relative — also a doctor — and asked her if a Covid patient indeed needed to be checked in the manner that the doctor did.
“My relative told me there was no need for him to do any such thing,” she said. The woman then informed her brother, who arrived at the hospital and called police. A team from the Expressway police station took the woman’s complaint. Yogesh Malik, the SHO, said an FIR had been registered against the doctor under IPC Section 354 (assault or use of criminal force on a woman to outrage her modesty).
The woman's family questioned the hospital’s decision to allow a man to share a ward with a woman. “For seven days of treatment, we paid a bill of Rs 1.25 lakh. There were no curtains between the beds. When I complained, the hospital authorities cited staff shortage,” she told TOI.
A spokesperson for Jaypee hospital claimed the doctor was working part-time with them for the past six months. “He has been with us for six months as a part-time doctor. The woman has complained against him saying that he molested her. Police are investigating the case and we are cooperating with them. As far as the woman’s complaint about sharing the ward with a man is concerned, the arrangement is similar in other hospitals too,” he said.
Additional DCP (Noida) Ranvijay Singh said the doctor was being questioned.