Man arrested for raping health worker inside Bengal hospital, NCW to send team

Kolkata, Sep 16 (PTI) One person, stated to be an employee of a private healthcare services company, was arrested on Tuesday on the charge of raping a contractual healthcare worker in a government hospital in West Bengal’s Purba Medinipur district, police said.

The National Commission of Women will send a team to the hospital in Panskura where the crime took place on Sunday night when the victim was on duty, NCW member Archana Majumdar told reporters in Kolkata.

The police registered an FIR after the victim lodged a complaint against the employee, engaged by the hospital authorities for improvement of healthcare services.

"He had been giving me indecent proposals for the past several days, and I was avoiding him as much as possible, except for official work. On Sunday night, he called me into a room to discuss some medicine distribution and raped me," she said in her complaint.

The man was arrested from Kolaghat in Purba Medinipur district and is being interrogated.

The victim woman has undergone a medical test and is under counselling.

The police officer said that after the arrest of the accused, three other contractual female health employees also levelled similar allegations against him in the hospital.

Agitated hospital staff demonstrated outside the office of the superintendent of the hospital, demanding action against the accused, identified as Zahir Abbas Khan.

The incident occurred around a year after an on-duty medic was raped and murdered inside the state-run RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata.

West Bengal Junior Doctor Front office-bearer Aniket Mahato expressed outrage over the incident and demanded security for health workers, particularly women, in hospitals.

"Nothing seems to have changed after that ghastly incident at R G Kar one year back. We demand proper security for female healthcare service workers, especially at night at their workplaces," Mahato told reporters.

TMC state general secretary Kunal Ghosh said the police have already arrested the accused and if he is found to be involved in such a crime, he should be given stringent punishment.

BJP leader Sajal Ghosh claimed the arrested person is associated with the state’s ruling party, which was denied by TMC. PTI SUS NN