BENGALURU: Two days after a 23-year-old Nepali rape survivor was admitted to Bowring and Lady Curzon Hospital amidst allegations from an activist of the NGO Stree Jagruthi Samithi that the victim was made to wait for three hours before treatment commenced, hospital Medical Superintendent Dr K S Manjunath conducted a four-hour enquiry into the matter and said he found no lapses on the part of the staff or delay in treatment. Karnataka State Women’s Commission chairperson Nagalakshmi Bai, who visited the victim on Monday, said that she was alert and responsive.
Nagalakshmi questioned Manjunath on the delay in treatment to which Manjunath suggested to her to conduct an independent investigation. “We have found no negligence on our part. You are welcome to do an investigation on your own too,” he said in full media glare.
“It is just misinformation that we delayed treatment. I enquired from multiple sources, not just the treating doctors, and found no lapse in treatment. As soon as she was brought in she was taken to a secluded room where a screen was drawn around her to prevent those passing by from seeing her. Our casualty medical officer said that her clothes were dirty and she was given hospital robes to change into,” Manjunath said.
He clarified that since the sexual assault happened on Thursday, there was no question of the victim bleeding till Saturday. “She was brought in at 12.30 pm on Saturday. It had been 48 hours since she was assaulted so there is no question of her bleeding as alleged in the media. She has fractures in the right forearm, left forearm, left hip and left pelvis. From the X-rays, it appears that some of these fractures are old. We are still probing based on the bone patterns,” he said.
On the number of doctors who attended to the victim, he said, “She was seen by the general surgeon and then sent to the orthopaedic. They gave her a splint and then she was sent to HSIS Gosha Hospital for gynaecological examination as that is where our department has been shifted after the recent inauguration of the new building. She was sent in an ambulance with escort.”
On allegations that money was demanded for scanning, he said, “The treatment is free for sexual assault victims. The chief medical officer (CMO) had signed the prescription and written ‘no fee’. But since the cashier insisted on a signature of the medical superintendent, the NGO worker came back to the casualty ward and our CMO facilitated the process from there on. It was a hassle of five to ten minutes.”