14-year-old rape victim denied immediate medical care

Police rise to the occasion, but doctors shunt victim to another hospital

In a shocking case of doctors’ apathy, a 14-year-old girl, who was gang-raped in Karajagi village in Afzalpur taluk, was not attended to for more than 18 hours after she and her parents lodged a complaint in the Afzalpur police station on Sunday at 7 p.m.

Turned away

The police, after registering the complaint, sent the victim along with her mother and two women constables to the Afzalpur taluk hospital for medical check-up immediately. According to the girl and the mother, the doctors at the hospital did not tend to them or conduct a mandatory check-up to confirm the rape, which is vital to prove rape.

The doctors merely advised the police to shift the girl to the government hospital in Gulbarga for further tests. The police, for reasons best known to them, failed to immediately shift the girl to Gulbarga.

When contacted, the District Health and Family Welfare officer Sajjanshetty confirmed that a woman medical officer was at the Afzalpur taluk hospital and he would check whether she was present on duty when the victim was brought in.

The ordeal of the rape victim continued even in the Gulbarga government hospital, where she and her mother were shunted from one room to another from 9 a.m. to 1.30 p.m. without conducting mandatory tests on the victim.

Although a gynaecologist was available in the hospital at the time the victim was officially admitted at around 12.30 p.m., she was sent to the labour room for tests.

Even after waiting for more than an hour, no doctor attended to her. The girl’s left arm had been injured in the incident and she was in pain. Finally, it was left to journalists, who were present at the government hospital, to alert District Surgeon Nalini Namoshi about the plight of the victim. Thanks to her intervention, a gynaecologist arrived to attend to her.

Another instance

In another incident, the same government hospital authorities turned away two girls, who were allegedly kidnapped and raped in Jewargi taluk on the plea of shortage of doctors. The authorities asked police personnel to take the girls back to Jewargi taluk hospital for medical tests.