Woman molested at hospital, ward boy in police net
Times of India | 16 September 2024
Kolkata: A young woman accompanying her ailing child was allegedly disrobed, molested and photographed by a ward boy while she was sleeping on a hospital bed, next to her daughter at Institute of Child Health in Park Circus early on Sunday.
Tanay Pal (26), a staff at the general ward of the dedicated children’s hospital, was arrested after the woman who caught him molesting and photographing her lodged a police complaint.
Police said Pal, originally from Tripura, who lives in a rented accommodation at Baruipur, was charged under BNS section 74 (assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty), 76 (assault or use of criminal force to woman with intent to disrobe) and 77 (voyeurism). He was arrested by Karaya police and is currently in police custody.
“The woman alleged the ward boy touched her inappropriately as well as disrobed her while she was sleeping on the first floor of ICH with her admitted child. The woman had also found the man recording her sleeping in that state on his mobile phone,” said a senior Kolkata Police officer. Cops said they have seized his mobile phone and are also checking CCTV footage of the hospital to verify the claims.
Doctors said the woman had been staying at the hospital’s general ward with her four-year-old daughter since Thursday with complaints of severe diarrhoea and dehydration at the general ward. She was supposed to be discharged on Sunday.
Hospital officials said Pal was working with the hospital for several years from a very young age. He was earlier with the hospital’s paediatric intensive care unit (PICU) before he was shifted to the general ward some time ago.
“This is the first of its kind complaint at ICH and we took immediate action against the man which includes calling the cops as well as terminating him from the job,” said Joydeb Ray, principal, ICH.