Doctor sexually assaulted, tortured at PIMS

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  • YDA holds a protest demonstration, stops work
  • An official points out involvement of some staffers

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) has become a place of horror not only for female patients but for lady doctors as well, as the hospital rocked by another scandal when an unidentified person attempted to allegedly rape and physical torture a female doctor in a duty room.

The unfortunate incident took place in the wee hour on Tuesday, when an unidentified person entered the room of a house officer by breaking all security protocols of the hospital and tortured her. The incident triggered a strong reaction from the PIMS Young Doctor Association (YDA) and held a protest demonstration and stopped working in the hospital.

They lashed out at the hospital administration for what they said their failure to safeguard and protect the honour and life of the staff members. They said that such incidents took place in a routine with some interval but the administration was merely giving them ‘lollipops’ of promises to bring the culprits to justice and to provide complete security to the staff members but no tangible steps have been taken to stop recurrence of such acts.

The YDA leadership gave the hospital administration 24-hour to arrest the culprit and made him an example or they would bring the function of the hospital to a standstill. A senior official wishing anonymity told Pakistan Today that it would be easy to arrest the culprit because the culprit could be seen in the CCTV cameras, besides his mobile phone fell there while he was fleeing the crime scene.

However, the official said that the victim doctor confined herself to the hostel and is so scared to talk to anyone, adding that even he was told that she was an orphan; hence she hesitated to pursue the case and to come to the front to disclose the real story because of fear and dishonour.

Another official in the hospital told this scribe that it was not the sole incident that took place in the hospital, as such incidents were happening with routine. He said that the PIMS turned out to be a nightmare for lady patients and lady doctors because even some staff members found involved in such incidents.

He pointed out a tragic incident of a 20-year-old paralysed woman – who was being treated at the hospital’s surgical intensive care unit and was allegedly raped by a male nurse back in 2016. PIMS Executive Director Dr Amjid Pomi said that an FIR has been registered against the unidentified culprit. The FIR was registered for attempted murder, manhandling and robbery as the criminal also took away Rs 7000 from the victim doctor.

However, the executive director ruled out the possibility of any rape attempt and family issue in this regard. He said that the culprit even threatened the victim doctor to death. He said that the culprit was an outsider but it would be cleared within 24 hours that how he entered the hospital’s premises and what he was actually doing.