LAHORE – A large number of nurses from the Mayo Hospital School of Nursing protested in front of the Punjab Assembly (PA) on Thursday against sexual harassment of their colleague during duty hours in the hospital.
The nurses chanted slogans against the administration for covering up the incident and stopping them from coming to the PA to register their protest. They demanded justice and registration of a first information report (FIR) against accused House Officer (HO) Muhammad Asad Iqbal.
According to details, first-year nursing student Ayesha was on-duty in the Ear, Nose and Throat (ENT) ward of the Mayo Hospital and went to the retiring room to have her meal at 1am on Wednesday. The nurses alleged that Iqbal initially asked the ward maid to leave, switched off lights and entered the retiring room where he tried to sexually assault Ayesha, to which she offered resistance and raised uproar, forcing Iqbal to flee.
The nurses claimed that they brought the incident to notice of authorities, including the medical superintendent and nursing superintendent, but no legal action was initiated against the accused. They said that authorities instead “advised” the victim to continue working with a covered face. “We are serving patients and living far away from our homes. Why Ayesha should cover her face when she has not done anything shameful and the culprit is roaming free,” said one of the protesters.
They demanded the Punjab CM order an inquiry into the incident and legal proceedings be initiated against the accused. Mayo Hospital Medical Superintendent (MS) Dr Zahid Pervaiz terminated the accused HO and formed a three-member inquiry committee headed by Professor Sabrina Pall to probe into the incident.
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