“I will order for an inquiry headed by the Collector looking into all aspects including whether the woman victim was treated by a casualty doctor first. If the doctor is guilty, we will take him to task. Such guilty doctors will not remain in GMC. We won’t tolerate such nuisance… since the victim woman has already left Goa, for now we will rely on the papers. The inquiry will cover all aspects,” Parrikar told Herald.
The Health department also asked for a report from the GMC.
It may be recalled that the Russian woman had alleged that she was first molested on a north-Goa beach last week and then had told Russian consular officials that she was molested again by a male doctor at the Goa Medical College (GMC) hospital, where she was sent for medical examination after the complaint was filed.
Advocate Vikram Varma, legal advisor to honorary Russian consulate in Goa, has also alleged procedural delays in the filing of the FIR by the police as well as the hospital authorities for the medical examination.
The tourist was on a seven-day holiday and was robbed and molested on Baga beach in the wee hours of Saturday. After being sent for medical examination, the doctor in-charge molested her by pressing her breast, she had told officials.
“This Russian national was considerably traumatised by the assault on the beach. That trauma was further increased by the manner in which her medical examination was conducted. Further she could not understand as to why the doctor needed to do a gynaecological examination of her, when the assault was on her chest and neck only,” Varma said, adding “The wheels of justice in India grind at a slow pace making it very difficult for an Indian citizen to find justice. For a foreigner who is here on a short visa, this task is virtually impossible. It is for this reason that many foreign tourists become victims of crime and criminals attacking foreigners gain confidence.”
In the matter of international tourists becoming victims of crime, a few bad apples have considerably tarnished the image of India. These victims certainly don’t have the resources to turn the wheels of justice, Varma said adding, “The only solution for such situations is effective intervention by the state. The task clearly requires thinking out of the box and what is visible is that previous governments could not deliver. I hope that with inputs from good legal minds, the present leadership can find an effective solution….”
According to officials the inquiry officer will also question the people present during the incident at GMC. GMC officials also told Herald that they would conduct an inquiry and said that if any wrong doing was found to have happened, action would be taken.
The medical examination was conducted by the male doctor and also present were two female doctors, one woman constable and a Russian-English interpreter.
According to reports, Varma’s report says that the victim has informed the Russian consulate of the matter. What also disturbed her was that a male doctor examined her at GMC. The victim has also alleged in her report to the consulate, that the molestation and robbery FIR was registered after 24 hours.
“Ideally a woman victim would be comfortable with a woman doctor. A lady gynaecologist can perform the examination but a forensic expert has to be there. That is the law. As far as I am concerned, there is a need for woman forensic experts, just like in courts woman judges should be there, in police stations woman PSIs should be there. So if woman doctors are there this element of discomfort will be removed,” says Dr Sabina Martins of Bailancho Saad, adding, “The HC has passed an order that all cases of sexual assault have to be heard by woman judge. Now we need woman forensic experts so she is more comfortable to report the incident and the required evidence is gathered.”
the Goa Police has denied any delay in registering an FIR with officials saying that the investigation into the first molestation complaint is on. They said that they have not received any second complaint. The Police say that they had a tough time convincing the victim to file a formal complaint in the first place.
