SRINAGAR: An FIR has been registered against Jammu and Kashmir AAP unit chief and MLA Mehraj Malik for alleged defamation, criminal intimidation, and insulting the modesty of a woman doctor and threatening to hospital staff in Doda.
The FIR has been lodged on the complaint of an associate professor at the Government Medical College and Hospital, Doda. In the complaint, the doctor alleged that Malik has used social media platforms to publicly issue threats and level abusive, gendered, and derogatory remarks against her.
“Phrases such as ‘gasheetoonga’ (I will drag you) and ‘nanga kardunga’ (I will strip you naked) have been used openly and maliciously. These words are direct threats to my dignity, safety and professional integrity as a female doctor serving in a government hospital,” she said.
The doctor alleged that these words are “clearly meant to outrage the modesty of a female public servant that too on social media.” The complainant asked Doda police to take cognisance of her allegation that the accused used derogatory words against her in his social media live videos.
“The words and language used by the AAP MLA on social media does not only tarnish my professional reputation but also places me in grave social and psychological distress. Besides these verbal threats, Malik’s conduct during hospital visits is erratic, threatening, and completely unbecoming of an elected representative,” the woman doctor said.
She accused the MLA of unauthorisedly entering the labour room along with his associates and sharing live social media feeds from there. “This is a gross violation of patient privacy, especially for female patients in vulnerable conditions,” she said.
On March 17 a local court in Jammu issued a non-bailable arrest warrant against the MLA in a case filed by ex-minister Ghulam Mohammad Saroori for allegedly making false statements against him. Meanwhile, Jammu Doctors Forum (JDF) has termed MLA’s actions an attack on the sanctity of medical services and direct threat to safety of healthcare professionals.