WARANGAL: A post-graduate (PG) first-year student of the Kakatiya Medical College (KMC), Dharavathi Preethi, on Wednesday attempted suicide due to alleged harassment by her senior by injecting herself with a heavy dose of suspected anaesthesia medicine in the MGM Hospital, where she is doing her internship.
According to her father Dharavathi Narender, an SI in the Railway Police Force (RPF), Warangal, he received a call from his daughter, complaining that her senior, identified as Dr Saif, was harassing her to work extra hours and not permitting her even to go to the washroom during duty hours in the MGM Hospital. Following this, Narender spoke to the Mattewada police over the phone and asked them to look into the matter. Narender lives in Uppal area of Hyderabad with his wife and son.
The Mattewada police reacted immediately and asked KMC principal Dr Divvela Mohan Das to take appropriate action against Saif. Both students are pursuing their PG in Anaesthesia under the supervision of their head of the department Dr K Nagarjuna Reddy.
However, Saif allegedly continued to harass Preethi in the MGM Hospital. On Wednesday, she reportedly sought permission to leave early, but Saif didn’t allow her. He allegedly refused to allow her to even to go to the washroom.
Preethi later went into the staff room and injected herself with a heavy dose of suspected anaesthesia medicine. She was found lying unconscious by senior doctors who immediately started treatment. When she failed to respond to the treatment, Preethi was shifted to the NIMS in Hyderabad.
Speaking to the media, Dr Mohandas said that they spoke to Saif after receiving a complaint from Preethi’s father. “We have constituted a committee to conduct a detailed inquiry into the incident. The committee will submit a report to the Mattewada police soon,” said Dr Mohandas.
MGM Hospital Superintendent Dr V Chandrasekhar told reporters that a team of senior doctors tried to save her. However, she suffered multi-organ failure and was shifted to the NIMS, he said.
Speaking to TNIE, Narender said, “There are many false allegations being circulated on social media targeting my daughter. Preethi called me many times and complained that a senior student was harassing her.”
“I asked her to come back, but she never listened because we do not have money to pay fees in another college. She also mentioned that if there were any adverse remarks from the senior, she might fail in the exams. She even asked me not to complain to anyone about the harassment,” he said.
A distraught Narender blamed Dr Chandrasekhar and Dr Mohan Das for his daughter’s suicide attempt. “Had they taken timely action aga-inst Saif, my daughter wouldn’t have attempted suicide,” he said.
Preethi spoke to her brother on Tuesday night.
Warangal Commissioner of Police A V Ranganath said that the Mattewada police registered a case against Saif under SC/ST atrocities Act. “We have gained access to the victim’s phone call records and will question everybody,” said Ranganath.