Man held for harassing female doctor, creating ruckus in Jammu-Kashmir hospital

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The police in Jammu and Kashmir arrested a man for allegedly creating a ruckus and harassing an on-duty female doctor inside a hospital located in Rajouri district early on Monday, officials said.

The unruly behaviour of the accused, identified as Gurpreet Singh, at the sub-district hospital in Nowshera sparked a protest by doctors and the paramedical staff, they added.

The incident took place around 12.45 am. Block Medical Officer Iqbal Malik said the accused ransacked the hospital property and harassed a female doctor on duty without any provocation

According to officials, he allegedly smashed a windowpane and abused a female doctor who tried to intervene. He then fled the spot, officials said.

Following the ruckus, the doctors and paramedics of the hospital suspended their work and staged a protest, demanding stern action against the accused as well as adequate security at the hospital premises.

However, when senior civil and police officials reached the scene and informed the doctors about Singh's arrest, the protest was called off. The police said that a case under the relevant sections of the criminal law has been filed against him.

"The police have arrested the accused following which the hospital staff resumed their duties," Malik said.

The incident comes days after a 31-year-old postgraduate trainee was brutally raped and murdered at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata, triggering massive protests by the medical fraternity as well as common citizens across the country over the safety of doctors and women. The doctor was found dead in the seminar hall of the Kolkata hospital on August 9. A civic volunteer has been arrested in the case. The Central Bureau of Investigation is currently probing the case after the Calcutta High Court transferred the probe from Kolkata Police. CBI officers also questioned the former principal of RG Kar Medical College, Sandip Ghosh, for the fourth consecutive day on Monday in connection with their probe into the Kolkata rape-murder case. He had resigned from the principal's post two days after the doctor's body was found.

Last week, a nurse was also found raped and murdered near the Uttar Pradesh-Uttarakhand border. A man was nabbed from Rajasthan in the case.

(With PTI inputs)