Odisha gang rape: Women panel seeks action against doctors

Odisha's State Commission for Women (SCW) Friday has sought action against the doctors who neglected a woman who was allegedly gang-raped in state’s Puri district in November last year, a senior commission official said Friday.

Commission chairperson Jyoti Panigrahi, in her report submitted to the state authorities Thursday, said the victim’s condition worsened due to the negligence of the doctors who treated her initially, the official, who did not want to be named, told IANS.

The 19-year-old victim has been in a state of comma after she was allegedly gangraped Nov 28 by some people near her village Arjunagoda, barely 10 km from the state capital.

Her family alleged the rapists were the same people who had assaulted her in 2008 and against whom she had put up a determined fight in court in a molestation case.

Although she was admitted to a local hospital Nov 29 a day later of the brutal crime and subsequently shifted to other hospitals, the shocking incident came to light only recently when the girl was denied proper treatment and some journalists reported the story.

The commission, citing initial medical reports, said the woman had injuries on her neck caused by partial hanging.

“As per law, if any information is received by a doctor regarding partial hanging, it is his duty to inform the concerned police station,” Panigrahi has stated in her report. This was not done, the official said, citing the report.

Besides, the chairperson found that the woman was discharged from hospitals on two occasions though her condition was very serious, the official dded.

“(If) proper steps in due time had been taken by the physicians of different hospitals, the health condition of the victim would not have deteriorated,” Panigrahi observed in her report.

The alleged gang rape has created a political storm, prompting Agriculture Minister Pradeep Maharathy to resign Jan 19 on moral grounds after the opposition and the girl's family alleged he protected her attackers.

The crime branch has already arrested four people and conducted lie-detector polygraph tests on them. A one man headed judicial commission led by a retired judge of the Odisha High Court is also probing the crime.

The state women panel submitted its report to the government at a time when Anita Agnihotri, the member secretary of the National Commission for Women (NCW) is in the state on a two-day trip from Thursday to probe the incident.