Max hospital employee rapes Afghan national, arrested

An Afghan woman, who was in India for her mother's medical treatment, was raped at Max Super Specialty hospital in South Delhi on July 24, an incident the hospital has confirmed. A 19-year-old employee of the hospital, Amar Singh, was reportedly involved in the case.

Delhi Police has arrested Singh, a housekeeper at the Max Hospital, Saket. He was produced before a magisterial court on July 25 and was remanded to judicial custody till August 8. IANS has accessed a copy of the victim's complaint.

The woman's statement was recorded before a magistrate on Wednesday.

According to the complaint filed by the woman, who hails from Kabul, Singh tried to force himself on her early morning on July 24 as she slept next to her ailing mother on whom she was attending. The woman was sleeping on the couch provided for the attendants of patients to rest at night in the ward.

The victim stated in her First Information Report (FIR) to the police (a copy of which is with IANS) that she had arrived in Delhi from Kabul on July 18 to get her mother treatment at Max Hospital in Saket.

At about 5 a.m. she was woken up by a movement around her and noticed that Singh had came into the room and was touching her private parts. Singh then tried to rape her. The woman started screaming, waking up her younger sister, who was also sleeping in the same room. The two sisters tried to overpower Singh, but he managed to throw them off and escape, injuring the victim in the process. However, the security guards on duty grabbed the man.

The Afghan woman lodged a complaint against Singh under sections 376 C (rape by any member of the management or staff of a hospital with any woman in that hospital), 325 (voluntarily causing grievous hurt) and other sections of the Indian Penal Code.

Confirming the incident, the Max Hospital authorities stated that the accused was immediately handed over to the police and was terminated.

"We follow a zero tolerance policy on any sexual misconduct incident with our employees or patients and their families. We have a comprehensive induction policy for our on-rolls and contractual employees," the hospital said in an unsigned statement.

"We also train our employees on compassion and correct conduct. We are highly disturbed about this condemnable incident in the hospital by a contractual employee," the statement added.

Asked about the help to the victim from the hospital, the authorities said: "The victim was admitted to the hospital and was provided all medical help to overcome trauma. The victim along with other family members have since left for Afghanistan."

(Amiya Kumar Kushwaha can be reached at amiya.k@ians.in)