ROURKELA: Police have booked the additional district medical officer (ADMO) of Sundargarh on charges of sexually harassing a lady doctor.
A case was registered against ADMO Dr Prakash Bal after the young doctor, engaged in the district headquarters hospital (DHH) on contract basis, lodged a complaint with Town police on Saturday.
The complainant, a dentist appointed under the District Mineral Foundation (DMF), claimed that her sexual harassment started during 2022 when Dr Bal, a senior general surgeon, inappropriately touched her many times despite her objection. At times, the accused would touch her back, shoulder and even hold her hands in presence of other medical staff.
She further claimed the accused once closed the doctor’s rest room and grabbed her. She was momentarily frozen but somehow escaped through the adjacent emergency room. The complainant said she brought the matter to the notice of senior authorities of the DHH following which Dr Bal stopped harassing her.
But around three months back, the accused was back to his old habit. She was forced to lodge a complaint with the Sundargarh collector basing on which an inquiry by the internal complain committee was instituted. The doctor said one of the female committee members tried to impress upon her that Dr Bal’s behaviour was fatherly. With no hope of getting justice, she lodged the complaint with police.
However, Dr Bal dismissed the allegations as false and fabricated. The ADMO claimed six dentists under the DMF used to regularly indulge in bickering over duty allotments leading to disruption in patient care. Three months back, he apprised the collector about the behaviour of the contractual doctors, but refrained from proceeding ahead fearing that they might be removed. To restore order at the dental OPD, the complainant was asked to shift to the adjacent mother and child hospital of the DHH on February 28. But she along with three outsiders created a scene.
Sundargarh SDPO Himanshu Behera said a case under sections 354 (A), 509, 294, 506 and 341 of IPC has been registered. Investigation is underway. Appropriate action would be taken after completion of the probe, he added.