Representative image where the words 'Stop violence against women' can be seen
Credit: iStock Photo
Chennai: An alleged attempt by a 23-year-old migrant worker to molest a house surgeon of the Coimbatore Medical College Hospital (CMCH) when she was walking from the hospital to a two-wheeler parking lot has triggered concerns over the safety of the house surgeons.
The incident, which comes just days after the shocking rape and murder of a medic in Kolkata in West Bengal, prompted house surgeons of the hospital to protest against the incident, demanding the safety and security of medical students.
Police said the woman house surgeon was walking towards the parking area, located between the administrative block and her hostel block, to take her two-wheeler.
“The migrant worker, identified as Mayank Gallar from Madhya Pradesh attempted to molest the woman house surgeon after undressing himself. The woman escaped by pushing the alleged molester down and ran away from the spot,” a student of the college said.
A group of students arrived at the spot after being alerted by the girl, but the offender managed to escape. “The migrant worker was arrested and has been booked under various sections of the BNS Act and Tamil Nadu Prohibition of Harassment of Women Act,” a police officer said.
A student said of the 150 house surgeons, over 80 are women and stressed the need for better safety measures for their security while alleging that most of the 200 security cameras inside the sprawling campus are defective.
On Thursday, the house surgeons and PG medical students protested against the incident and demanded that the institution should take proactive steps to protect its doctors, especially women doctors. The students called off their protests after Dean A Nirmala assured them of steps to protect them.
“We will ensure that the women house surgeons are safe. This incident was brought to our notice and we informed the police immediately. We are also trying to ensure that the parking lots and approach roads are well-lit. We are working towards installing more light on the campus,” Nirmala said.
He also assured the students that the defunct CCTV cameras will be replaced. The incident has shocked the medicos in the hospital as it comes just four days after a woman doctor was raped and murdered inside a conference room of her medical college, sending shockwaves across the country.