The girl was admitted to Shiva Hospital after she accidentally drank some insecticide mistaking it for cold dr... Read More

GURUGRAM: Two male nurses of a private hospital, aged 27 and 23, were arrested on Monday after the mother of a 16-year-old girl treated in the hospital’s intensive care told police they had sexually assaulted her. One of the nurses, the girl’s mother told police, had even threatened to remove her oxygen support when she resisted.

The nurses, according to a police complaint filed by the girl’s mother, disrobed the Class 12 student, touched her inappropriately and tried to rape her on November 16. She spent only a night in the ICU of Shiva hospital in old Gurgaon ’s West Rajiv Nagar area for treatment after she mistakenly drank from a bottle of insecticide, believing it to be a soft drink.

The traumatised girl kept quiet after she was discharged but when the nurses repeatedly made offensive calls to her phone, she confided in her mother, who approached the police on Sunday. The nurses were produced in a city court on Monday and sent to judicial custody. The administration of Shiva hospital said they have sacked the nurses. Police said the hospital authority is also under their scanner.

However, police have not charged the nurses under Section 354 of the IPC, the law that deals with sexual assault. Instead the nurses have been charged under sections 328 (causing hurt by poison, etc) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the IPC and Section 10 of the POCSO (Protection of Children from Sexual Offences) Act.

“The girl had been admitted to Civil Hospital by her family on November 16,” reads the complaint. “Her mother then took her to Shiva Hospital, where she was admitted in the ICU. Late that same night, after her father had returned home, two nursing staff — Ravinder (27) and Kuldeep (23) — attacked her. Kuldeep touched her inappropriately, and when she objected, he threatened to kill her by removing her oxygen support. When she tried to shout, Ravi pressed her mouth while Kuldeep gave her an injection that made her drowsy. When she called for her parents, they said it was 2am and that her father had left.”

Kuldeep allegedly made a second attempt later in the night, removing her top and kissing her forcibly. He also allegedly instructed her to accompany him to the restroom, which she did, and tried to rape her there. That’s when she fainted. Next morning, she was discharged, but the girl was in a state of shock and didn’t immediately reveal anything to the parents, according to the complaint. The nurses, in the meantime, began making calls to her phone. Eventually, she confided in her mother on November 25.

Her mother filed the complaint at Sector 14 police station on Sunday evening, based on which an FIR was registered against the nurses, who were picked up by the police from the hospital. Dr Manoj, administrative head of the private hospital, said, “We have sacked the nurses, who have also been arrested. We’ll extend all possible help to police in their probe,” he said. Inspector Bhartendra Singh, SHO of Sector 14 police station, said, “This is a serious case, in which the hospital management’s role can’t be ignored. We have sought CCTV footage from them. If we find any foul play by the hospital, action will be taken as per law.”

