The horrific rape and murder of a trainee doctor in Kolkata's state-run R G Kar Hospital that sent shockwaves across the nation, now seems to have opened up a pandora's box of buried truths, concealed cases and forgotten allegations.
Dr Sandip Ghosh, who was the principal of R G Kar Medical College and Hospital when the mutilated body of the 31-year-old trainee doctor was found on the wee hours of August 9, was arrested by the CBI on September 2 on grounds of corruption and financial irregularities at the hospital.
Now, adding to the woes of the under fire ex-R G Kar principal, an old South China Morning Post report is doing the rounds on social media, which brings to light a sexual harassment allegation laid out against Sandip Ghosh by a Hong Kong nursing student.
Circa 2017 - we move back in time to Hong Kong from India, Kowloon from Kolkata, and Queen Elizabeth Hospital from R G Kar. One aspect of the story remains the same - Dr Sandip Ghosh. According to the report, a Hong Kong nursing student had alleged that an Indian orthopaedist, Sandip Ghosh, tried to touch his private parts and even stroked his left buttock, while he was changing his clothes at Hong Kong's Queen Elizabeth Hospital.
While recalling the incident at Kowloon City Court, the nurse claimed that after touching him inappropriately, Dr Ghosh had asked him, "Do you like it?" Ghosh, who was the head of the orthopaedics department at West Bengal's Murshidabad Medical College at that time, had travelled to Hong Kong in order to take part in a clinical attachment programme.
In his defence, Ghosh stated that the incident was a misunderstanding since he had unintentionally touched the nurse student's hip while showing him how to pull his arm in order to treat his dislocated shoulder. He further added that what he actually said to the nurse was, "Do it like this."
The incident had reportedly taken place on April 8, 2017.
Ghosh further claimed that he sought assistance from others in his building after he woke up that morning to find his right shoulder partially dislocated once more, which he said was a recurring issue. Among the ones he asked for help from was the nurse, who quickly left the scene since he did not understand him.
Defense witness Dr. Wilson Li, who oversaw Ghosh at the Queen Elizabeth hospital, testified that Sandip Ghosh's MRI scan conducted later revealed he may have had a dislocated shoulder within the previous six weeks.
An Ei Samay report regarding the incident has put to rest any possible confusion over whether the Sandip Ghosh involved in the Hong Kong fiasco is indeed the same as the one embroiled in the R G Kar case. While reminiscing the incident from seven years ago, orthopeadic doctor Utpal Banerjee, who also happened to be a colleague of Dr Ghosh, said, "As far back as I can remember, there was a controversy about Sandip's foreign trip at that time," as per the report.
"He went to Hong Kong and was jailed for sexual harassment. At that time, arrangements were made to bring him back to the country with the help of international contacts and connections of the Orthopaedic Association," added Dr Banerjee, the general secretary of the Association of Health Service Doctors and an active member of the West Bengal Orthopedic Association.