Bengal junior doctor attacked, threatened with sexual assault
A government official said the health department’s principal secretary, N S Nigam, has sought a report from the Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay Government Medical College and Hospital
A home guard volunteer and his associates allegedly attacked and threatened a junior doctor with sexual assault at the Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay Government Medical College and Hospital in West Bengal’s Howrah district on Monday evening. The main accused, Babulal, was arrested along with one of his associates.
A police officer said the incident happened when around a dozen people went to the hospital’s maternity ward with a pregnant woman and demanded that the junior doctor on duty examine her. “According to the complainant, the home guard volunteer claimed to be a police officer. An investigation is on.”
The complainant, a senior resident at the hospital’s gynaecology and obstetrics department, alleged that even the patient kicked her when she was being examined.
The junior doctor said the patient was resisting an abdominal examination. “I did it nonetheless, but found nothing that needed immediate medical attention. When I started examining other patients, people accompanying the woman pressured me to examine her again,” she said.
“I told them a senior doctor would soon be on duty and the patient would be examined. On hearing this, one of the men threatened that I would not reach home alive. He mentioned my private parts and said he would insert an iron rod inside me.”
She said a second man twisted her arms. “The two men hit me on my shoulder. They tried to slap me, too. The incident happened between 5.30 and 5.45pm inside the ward in front of the nurses and medical attendants.”
The junior doctor said there were around a dozen men, but not a single security personnel. “The hospital authorities have lodged a complaint. I am scared.”
A government official said the health department’s principal secretary, N S Nigam, has sought a report from the hospital.
The West Bengal Doctors Forum condemned the incident. “This is not an isolated crime. This is the symptom of total lawlessness that has gripped our health care system. Hospitals in West Bengal have turned into unsafe war zones where doctors, nurses, and staff serve under constant fear. The so-called ‘security system’ in government hospitals is a mockery; non-existent, toothless, and complicit,” the forum said in a statement.
The Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) targeted the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC), citing the rape and murder of a postgraduate trainee doctor in August 2024 at the state-run RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata. A civic volunteer, who worked for the Kolkata Police, was sentenced to life imprisonment for the crime, which triggered a nationwide uproar.
“The [fresh] incident has shown once again how unsafe doctors are inside state-run hospitals,” said BJP leader and Union minister Sukanta Majumdar.
TMC spokesperson Arup Chakraborty said police took timely action. “We condemn all incidents of this nature. The government always takes action. In this incident, too, the main accused has been arrested promptly. An inquiry is on.”
