This report contains a graphic description of sexual abuse. If you wish to report an incident of sexual abuse, please contact the national women’s helpline number 181 or the NCW’s helpline number 112 for emergency assistance.
Gurugram: Fresh details from the First Information Report (FIR) reveal that the alleged sexual assault of an air hostess on ventilator support at Medanta Hospital took place while the male employee was performing some kind of inspection.
The survivor, a Kolkata resident, has been an employee of a leading airline in India for the past 22 years. She had arrived in the city for a training programme that began on 1 April.
According to the FIR accessed by ThePrint, she was admitted to the Ayushman Hospital after a near-drowning at the five-star hotel where she was staying on the morning of 5 April. Later that night, around 10 pm, she was shifted to Medanta, where she was placed on ventilator support.
The incident occurred the next day at around 9 pm. At the time, although she was restrained and connected to the ventilator with a breathing tube, she said she was able to comprehend conversations around her.
In the FIR, the survivor alleged that, after her clothes and the bedsheet were changed, two female nurses and a male employee were in the room, and they appeared to be performing some kind of check. “The man asked the two nurses present to provide an inventory.”
“As they began listing the items, I heard him inquire about the size of my waistband. He then told the nurses that he would check it himself.”
Under the guise of checking her measurement, the survivor alleged that the man slipped his hand under the bedsheet and inserted his fingers into her body, twisting them inside. He inserted his fist and moved it in and out eight times. He then allegedly went on to pat her thighs and grope her breasts, and remove clothing from her upper body, even though medical equipment had already been attached.
“He then pulled the sheet up to my nose and asked me if I was okay,” she said. “I nodded slightly, out of fear. He told the nurses he had taken the measurement and left.”
Later, one of the nurses noticed blood on the bed but noted to her colleague that the survivor’s clothes and the bedsheet had just been changed. The other nurse then speculated that the woman’s menstrual cycle may have started.
“I was terrified and unable to speak due to the ventilator,” the survivor recalled. “Even after the ventilator was removed and I was shifted to the ICU on 8 April, I remained silent out of fear as I was still surrounded by the same people.”
She was discharged from the hospital on the evening of 13 April and returned to her hotel with her husband. The next morning, she confided in him, and he immediately contacted the police.
An FIR was registered on 14 April under Sections 68 (sexual intercourse by a person in authority) and 64(2) (punishment for rape) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS). Her statement has also been recorded before a magistrate.
Sandeep Kumar, public relations officer at the Gurugram police commissioner’s office, confirmed that an investigation is underway but declined to provide further details, adding that no breakthrough has been achieved so far.
Police sources revealed that investigators visited Medanta Hospital Wednesday and questioned several staff members as part of the probe.
Meanwhile, Medanta Hospital issued an official statement Tuesday, saying that it was cooperating with the investigation.
“At this stage, no allegations have been substantiated. All relevant documents, including CCTV footage from the time in question, have been handed over to the police. We remain committed to supporting the investigation,” the statement read.
(Edited by Sanya Mathur)