Medical technician held for 'sexually abusing' unconscious patient at Peshawar hospital

Lady Reading Hospital director says the technician will be fired if internal inquiry finds him guilty

PESHAWAR: A medical technician at the Lady Reading Hospital (LRH) in Peshawar has been arrested for sexually abusing an unconscious female patient.

The patient Sidra* was brought to the LRH after she fell unconscious at her home in Batkhela. Sidra was first rushed to a Batkhela health facilit. However, she was referred to the LRH for a complete medical examination.

According to the hospital management, the patient was examined at around 5:30am and for further investigation the doctors on duty advised a computerised tomography (CT) scan.



She was then wheeled into the radiology room for the scan, but because of the side-effects of radiation exposure, her family members were asked to wait outside, management officials said.

Afew minutes into the procedure, Sidra’s family complained that Ajmal Khan*, the medical technician conducting the CT scan, had molested the patient.

It is not certain yet how the matter came to light. According to some accounts, Sidra’s family made the allegation on her behalf as she was unconscious. But by other accounts, Sidra herself began shouting from the room and the relatives went inside. There they saw Khan touching her inappropriately.



The FIR registered against the technician at Khan Raziq Police station in Qissa Khwani under sections 354 and 509 of Pakistan Penal Code reads: “I [Sidra] felt Khan’s hands on my body.”

When contacted, LRH Director Dr Khalid Masood said although a case had been registered by police, a departmental inquiry would also be carried out. He added that if Khan was found guilty, he would be terminated from service.

“There are no CCTV cameras inside the [radiation] room but let police do their job and we will be carrying out our own inquiry,” Masood told The Express Tribune.

 

*Names have been changed to protect identity.