COIMBATORE: Around 150 house surgeons practising under the Compulsory Rotating Medical Internship (CRMI) at the Coimbatore Medical College Hospital (CMCH) staged a sit-in protest in front of the dean’s office on Thursday demanding safety after a woman colleague was allegedly harassed by an unidentified man in a parking lot on Wednesday night.
The man was wandering inside the hospital later in the night and was handed over to the police. The suspect appeared to be mentally unstable, police said. A case has been booked against him under section 74 of BNS and 4 of the TNPHW Act.
According to the complaint filed by the CRMI council on behalf of the victim, around 9 pm, an unidentified man approached her while she was parking her vehicle. Taking advantage of the poor lighting in the area, he flashed at her and tried to molest her.
Though she raised an alarm, the security guard did not respond. Later that night, the person was spotted in the emergency block and was secured by staff and handed over to Racecourse police. He was identified as Mayank Galar (23) from Madhya Pradesh. An officer said the man appeared to be mentally unstable. Action would be taken against him after investigation, the officer added.
On Thursday, the house surgeons demanded better lighting, CCTV surveillance on the hospital premises, and armed security personnel. They said they have to travel to their hostels to use the restroom. The protest lasted for two hours, following which dean A Nirmala convened a meeting and told them that the demands would be met.
Nirmala said that she had instructed the Public Works Department to address the restroom and street lighting issues. She said 200 surveillance cameras have been fixed, but a few were not functioning properly. “We will soon fix the glitches,” she added.
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