Kozhikode: Police have launched a re-investigation into the survivor's complaint against Dr KV Preethi regarding the sexual harassment case at the ICU of Kozhikode Medical College Hospital. Northern Region IG K Sethuraman has tasked Narcotics Cell ACP T P Jacob with conducting an inquiry and submitting a report within a week.
After a two-week-long protest, the survivor recently obtained a copy of the investigation report. She had approached the City Police Commissioner, alleging that Dr Preethi did not fully record her statement after the sexual harassment incident. Despite her request, the commissioner did not provide her with the police investigation report, prompting the survivor to stage a protest outside the Commissioner's office. Subsequently, the North Region IG directed the Commissioner to furnish the survivor with the requested report.
Upon receiving the report, the survivor expressed dissatisfaction with the investigation, noting that it included the statement of a junior doctor who had not examined her initially.
The case
Hospital attendant M K Saseendran sexually assaulted the survivor while lying unconscious in the ICU after thyroid surgery in March 2023. Shortly after the incident, the hospital superintendent instructed Dr Preethi to examine the woman and submit a report. The medical college police registered a case in the incident and recorded the statement of the doctor who conducted the medical examination, but as alleged, crucial information was left out in this statement.
'No injury or bleeding was seen in the survivor's body during the medical examination. No samples were collected as no internal organ injury was detected. The survivor did not complain of serious sexual assault during the examination," Dr Preethi said in the statement.
The survivor came forward alleging sabotage in the case after the aforesaid statement of the doctor became public. She alleged that the omission of crucial information was an effort to help the accused. The woman said she had clearly informed the doctor about the incident.