Woman in ICU gang-raped by hospital staff in UP; 4, including nurse, arrested

A 29-year-old woman, who was admitted to the ICU of a hospital in Uttar Pradesh's Meerut district, was allegedly gang-raped by the staff when she was asleep on the night of March 23. The woman diagnosed with fatty liver when she came to the hospital complaining of breathing issues.

The victim's husband alleged that she was given some medicines laced with sedatives.

When she fell unconscious, the staff proceeded to gang-rape her. The woman woke up to find a man on the bed with her. She had then raised an alarm, reports ANI.

After conducting a preliminary investigation, the police detained four men and a woman in connection to the case.

"The woman was admitted to the hospital with a breathing problem. She has alleged that she was gang-raped by the hospital staff," Circle Officer Harimohan Singh told ANI.

An FIR was lodged against the accused - Ashok Malik (35), Shabad (23), Niyazu (20) and Lakshmi (50) - under section 376 (rape) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

Adding to the seriousness of the matter, a source told ANI that the CCTVs installed in the ICU were switched off during the time of the incident.

In a similar incident, 26-year-old Kamal Kanti Sen Choudhury, a male nurse at B Barooah Cancer Institute (BBCI) in Guwahati, had sexually assaulted three female patients in the hospital in December 2018.

"Following complaints from the patients to the hospital superintendent, a case was lodged and efforts were undertaken to nab the culprit. He was arrested in Tripura on Sunday," Inspector Dharani Barman, who is in-charge of Paltanbazar police station, was quoted as saying by Hindustan Times.

A case was registered against Kamal under sections 354 A (sexual harassment), 376 (rape) and 511 (attempting to steal) of the Indian Penal Code.