In a shocking incident, a woman patient was allegedly gang-raped by three ward boys at a private hospital in Uttar Pradesh's Meerut town, about 450 kilometres from here.

According to the police sources, the woman, who had been suffering from abdominal problems for the past few months, was admitted to the hospital two days back.

It was alleged that three ward boys, who were employees of the hospital, gang-raped her after administering a sedative-laced injection late on Saturday night. Police sources said that a staff nurse had administered the injection. 

The victim, who narrated about the incident to her relatives on Sunday morning, was discharged in a hurry and was sent home before she could lodge a complaint. 

''We tried to report the incident to the doctors and other employees but they did not listen to us,'' said one of the relatives of the victim.

Her relatives approached the police later in the day and got a complaint registered with the cops, sources said. All the three ward boys have been arrested and a hunt was launched to nab the staff nurse, who was absconding, the police said.

The incident comes close on the heels of alleged molestation of a tenth standard student by four youths inside a school premises in Meerut.