CHANDIGARH: Haryana Police arrested a 25-year-old Bihar man who allegedly sexually assaulted a 46-year-old air hostess, while she was on a ventilator support in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) at Medanta Hospital in Gurugram.
The accused, Deepak, is a native of Badhauli village in Muzaffarpur district in Bihar and was working as a technician in Medanta Hospital for the last five months.
He was identified and arrested after examining the footage from 800 CCTV cameras, interrogating the hospital staff and investigating various facts.
In the preliminary interrogation the alleged accused told the police that he is unmarried and addicted to watching porn videos.
After doing B.Sc OTT (Bachelor of Science in Operation Theatre Technology) from SGT University, he joined Medanta Hospital.
The 46-year-old air hostess had said that two nurses were present in the room but did nothing to stop the incident.
On April 5, she was admitted to the hospital and was later discharged on April 13 (Sunday). After being discharged from the hospital, the air hostess told her husband about the incident and lodged a complaint with the police.
A case was registered under section 64 (rape), 68 (sexual intercourse by a person in authority) of the BNS at Sadar Police station. In her complaint, she stated that on April 6, she was on a ventilator when some hospital staff sexually assaulted her.
It is learnt that she was admitted to the Ayushman Hospital after a near-drowning at the five-star hotel where she was staying on the morning of April 5. Later that night she was shifted to Medanta, where she was placed on ventilator support.
The victim had stated she was unable to defend herself due to her compromised physical condition and claimed that two nurses witnessed the incident but failed to intervene.
On Thursday, Gurugram Police Commissioner, Vikas Kumar Arora, had formed a special investigation team (SIT) led by Deputy Commissioner of Police (Headquarters) Dr Arpit Jain, and the SIT arrested the accused today.
Dr Arpit Jain, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Headquarters) and head of the Special Investigation Team (SIT) said, "The SIT was formed into the matter yesterday, and the SIT visited the hospital. More than 50 employees of the hospital and some doctors were questioned and more than 800 CCTV were examined. After multiple analyses on a micro level, with the help of human and technical intelligence, we finally identified the accused and arrested him today from the Sadar police station area. The accused confessed to the crime."
The spokesperson of Gurugram police said that the accused will be produced before the court tomorrow for further action by the police team. A further probe is underway.
In a statement, the hospital stated, "We have been informed that the police have identified a suspect who has been taken into custody in connection with the ongoing investigation concerning allegations of sexual assault on a patient. On the basis of information provided to us by the police, we have suspended the suspect employee.’’