Tamil Nadu: Doctors on Covid-19 duty raped two colleagues

CHENNAI: The two government doctors on contract, arrested on Thursday on charges raping two lady doctors at a covid isolation hotel, were predators who approached the survivors on the pretext of helping them in sorting out a mobile phone snag.
In two separate incidents, two women doctors were sexually assaulted at a star hotel, where they had all been accommodated during their short-contract Covid duty, on August 5 and September 6. The women filed separate complaints against the offenders to the Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital dean, but had had a harrowing experience for the past two months.
It was only after an internal inquiry committee that probed their complaints gave strong strictures against the two errant doctors -- an orthopaedic and a general practitioner - did the RGGH dean forwarded the complaints along with the committee's finding to Chennai city police on Wednesday, requesting criminal action against the duo.
In the first incident, police said the woman doctor stayed in a room opposite that of orthopaedic surgeon S Vetriselvan, 35, and they knew each other. She sought Vetriselvan's help when her phone suffered a snag and she could not make calls to her family. Vetriselvan took her to his room saying he had a mobile application which would resolve the issue. However, when she entered his room, Vetriselvan sexually assaulted and raped her. On the same day, Vetriselvan vacated his hotel room and moved to a friend's house in Chennai.
In the second incident, police said the woman doctor stayed on the second floor of a hotel in Anna Salai, while the arrested N Mohanraj, 28, stayed on the third floor. Mohanraj invited the woman doctor to his room on the pretext of teaching a gym workout and breathing exercise. Once inside his room, Mohanraj assaulted her and sexually abused her. On coming to know of the two incidents, other doctors took up the issue with the top brass of the government hospital. Police said the RGGH dean, Dr E Theranirajan assigned a team of doctors to conduct an inquiry. The committee submitted its report early this week.
When contacted, Theranirajan said he received the complaint on November 16 and that he formed an inquiry committee the following day. "Minutes into the inquiry the committee members concluded that there was prima facie evidence of sexual harassment, including rape. They immediately sent us a report suggesting we file a police complaint," he said.
The same day, the two doctors, who were working on a contract basis, were dismissed from service and a police complaint was lodged by the hospital.
The directorate of medical education, the apex body that administers government medical college hospitals in the state, ratified the decision to terminate the doctors.
"We have taken adequate steps to ensure legal action is taken against the errant doctors. We have also asked all medical colleges to ask doctors on Covid duty to vacate the hotel rooms," said health minister Ma Subramanian.
The state has more than 500 doctors on contract for duty in Covid wards.
"Lodging was given at the peak of infection when there was risk of carrying infection back home.
Now, the first dose vaccination has crossed 73% and most doctors don't have trouble accessing hospitals as public transport services are open now," Subramanian said.