Doctor of Lucknow medical university booked for sexually exploiting fellow woman medico; suspended

Lucknow, Dec 24 (PTI) A resident doctor of a medical university here has been booked for allegedly sexually exploiting a fellow woman doctor on the pretext of marriage, with police also invoking provisions of the anti-conversion law, officials said on Wednesday.

"Police teams are searching for the accused and he will be arrested soon," Assistant Commissioner of Police of the area, Rajkumar Singh, said.

An FIR was registered on Tuesday against the accused, Ramiz Malik, under sections 69 (sexual intercourse by employing deceitful means), 89 (causing miscarriage without woman's consent) and 351 (criminal intimidation) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, besides relevant provisions of the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act.

According to the complaint, the woman alleged that the accused befriended her a few months ago and established physical relations with her on the assurance of marriage at her rented accommodation and later at his residence. She claimed that when she became pregnant in September, the accused forced her to undergo an abortion.

In her complaint, the woman doctor said she later came to know that the accused was already married and that his wife had converted religion before marriage earlier this year.

According to the police, the woman doctor alleged that when she confronted the accused, he initially denied the marriage and later pressured her to convert religion, besides threatening to make her private photos and videos viral.

Distressed by the alleged harassment, she consumed an overdose of medicines on December 17 and was admitted to a trauma centre, the police said.

Officials said the matter has also reached the chief minister, who spoke to the woman doctor on Tuesday and assured her of justice.

"The case has been registered based on a complaint referring to an incident that allegedly took place in September," Singh said.

Meanwhile, the medical university has suspended the accused and barred his entry into the campus. A senior official of the university said the action was taken after an internal committee examined the matter and recommended suspension to ensure a fair and impartial inquiry.

The accused has been barred from academic and residential facilities during the suspension period, the official added.

Separately, activists of a student organisation staged a protest on the campus, demanding strict action against the accused. PTI CDN KVK KVK