Bhopal gangrape: Medical report calling case 'consensual' incident 'rectified'; health commission issues notices to doctors

After a lapse in a medical report called the Bhopal gangrape  a “consensual” act, the responsible hospital staff called it “clerical error” and withdrew the previous report, media reports said on Thursday. Authorities at the Sultania Lady Hospital blamed a “newcomer” for the incorrect information on the medical report.

CNN-News18 reported that the medical report stated the sexual intercourse took place “with her consent”. The news channel also reported that in one of the sentences, the victim was mentioned as the “accused”. The authorities have now rectified the error and replaced the word " with" with “without”.

The goof-up prompted the Madhya Pradesh administration to slap show notices on the doctors.

Divisional commissioner of Bhopal Ajatshatru said that due to their mistake, the report could have been misconstrued.

 It was a sensitive issue and doctors should have avoided such inadvertent mistakes. So, the entire meaning of the report was misconstrued. We have served show cause notices to two doctors, Khushbhu Gajbhiye and Sanyogita,  asking them to furnish their replies within three days," Ajatshatru told PTI.

According to police, despite the errors, the report confirmed that the woman was raped and injuries were found in her private parts.

Superintendent of Police, Bhopal railway division, Ruchi Vardhan Mishra told PTI that the errors in the report were “insignificant” as these were made in the column for recording the details of the incident. “In the doctors’ examination report, the part relating to medical observation is significant,” she added.

Meanwhile, Leader of Opposition in the Madhya Pradesh Assembly Ajay Singh alleged that the medical report showed the “insensitivity” of the government. “This is shameful. This has shown the carelessness of the administration and the insensitivity of the state government. Such things are only aggravating the agony of the victim,” Singh said. Congress leader Arun Yadav also questioned Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan’s silence over the issue and demanded an unbiased probe.

The 19-year-old survivor, a UPSC aspirant, was alleged abducted on 31 October by four men from a location near the railway tracks in Bhopal. Various reports had said that when the victim approached the police to file an FIR, they had refused to file a complaint and had mocked her for cooking up a “filmy story”.

A case was finally registered on 1 November, almost 24 hours after the crime, at the Government Railway Police (GRP) station at the Habibganj railway station. Police have arrested all the four accused.

After the incident came to light, five Madhya Pradesh Police officers were suspended for failing to act on the victim’s complaint. She later spoke against the rapists, and said that they should be “ hanged on the streets .” Reacting to the incident, which occurred when the victim was returning from coaching classes late in the evening, Madhya Pradesh education minister Deepak Joshi stated that coaching classes should not operate beyond 8pm. Rejecting Joshi’s remark, Chouhan said on Thursday that it was rather the police’s duty to ensure safety of women.

With inputs from PTI