Doctors refuse to sign Nithyananda’s medical report

The controversy surrounding self-styled godman Nithyananda has taken a new twist with doctors at Victoria Hospital, who conducted the potency test on him, showing reluctance to sign the medical test report.

Sources in the hospital told The Hindu that all the four doctors from the departments of Forensic Medicine, Urology, Psychiatry and General Medicine who conducted the tests, are hesitating to sign the report as they “do not want to land in any controversy or legal hassles.” This assumes significance in the wake of rumours that Nithyananda was planning to take the legal route against the doctors who conducted the tests on him.

Nithyananda was asked by the Supreme Court to undergo the tests in connection with allegations of rape against him. Although police sources said he had refused to cooperate during the tests citing cardiac problems, doctors, it is learnt, are hesitant to sign even the basic blood, urine sample and voice tests, the sources said.

The sources said two doctors from the team felt that the Head of the Department of Forensic Medicine in the hospital S. Venkataragava should sign the report as the CID had referred the case to his department. Another doctor felt the Medical Superintendent of the hospital T. Durganna or P.K. Devdas, Dean and Director of Bangalore Medical College and Research Institute (BMCRI), should sign it in their capacity as heads of the institution.

Dr. Devdas told The Hindu that it was the responsibility of the Medical Superintendent to take a call on who should sign the report. But as the case first landed in the Forensic Science Department, the report had to be signed by the head (Dr. Venkataragava) of the department. “There is no need for the director to intervene in this matter,” he said.

However, Dr. Durganna said all four doctors in the team will have to sign the report and he would forward it to the CID. “We will submit it by Monday or Tuesday,” he said.

The confusion over the signing of the medical report has become a cause of concern even for the police. “We are worried as we need the report in time to pursue the case further. Any delay could further complicate the case and we could be at the receiving end,” a senior police officer, who is supervising the case, said.