Dharmapuri govt medical college dean denies rape of tribal minor girl
Dharmapuri: The case of a tribal girl, a minor, dying due to rape in November last year, surfaced again with the state govt ordering a probe against doctors who had treated her since allegations have erupted that they failed to register it as a case of rape.
The girl from an uphill village near here was admitted in the Dharmapuri government medical college and hospital (DGMCH) two days after she was allegedly raped by two youths of her area. The girl’s parents had taken her to a private clinic initially but shifted her to the govt hospital as her condition worsened. The girl died without responding to treatment.
The girl’s family at first would not allow the hospital doctors to conduct autopsy and insisted that it be done by a panel of doctors, including one person from their hill community. They also demanded that the two accused youth, S.Sathish and P.Ramesh, both 20-years old, be booked without further delay.
Social activists helped the family to persist with their demands and agitate repeatedly. The state government finally ordered a probe against the duty doctors who had initially examined her and failed to record it as a case of rape.
While confirming that the doctors in this case are now facing probe, Dr K.Sreenivasa Raju, the DGMCH dean, said the doctors found no signs of rape on the girl and besides, the family had not complained to them at that time about rape. “Their main allegation against the doctors was that their case record has no mention of sexual assault. They have not told us when the patient was in our care and also the girl showed no such symptoms--no abrasion or other injuries found in her body, said the dean, adding that it was a medico-legal case for the police to prove the charge of rape as told by the victim’s relatives”.
“How can the doctors record rape unless the victim had shown signs of rape? The autopsy report has confirmed that the girl died because of pulmonary edema”, said the dean, explaining that it was a serious medical condition arising out excess fluids collecting in the lungs. “Fluids begin to fill the lungs and can cause sudden death because the human body cannot get sufficient oxygen and also the carbon dioxide will not be removed from the blood”, said the dean.
