The Lahore police registered a case on Tuesday after the staff of the Sir Ganga Ram Hospital (SGRH) and the Young Doctors Association (YDA) alleged that a five-year-old girl was raped on the facility’s premises.
The protest was led by Punjab YDA President Dr Shoaib Niazi and Dr Azam Saeed, president of the YDA’s chapter for the hospital. The demonstration was also joined by the staff and students of the hospital as well as the Fatima Jinnah Medical University (FJMU).
A note of demands by the protesters said: “An incident of rape/attempt of rape on the premises of SGRH Lahore has occurred, which was pushed under the carpet by the administration. The victim was said to be a minor of five years old.
“The students of FJMU/SGRH demand transparency and an investigation of the case. The students further demand the administration to answer their criminal silence. If such incidents are covered up and silenced, it raises a question mark for the hospital administration!”
Among others, the protesters demanded that a first information report (FIR) be lodged and there should be transparency about any further steps taken regarding the case.
Meanwhile, Dr Hafiz Moinuddin, the hospital’s medical superintendent, told Dawn.com that the girl was sleeping with her mother in a corridor when a sanitary worker “touched” her at 2am in the night.
He said the girl screamed and wokr her mother up, prompting several people in the hospital to gather on the spot. The sanitary worker was then nabbed and taken to the security room where the security in-charge called the police and handed over the suspect to them.
Dr Moinuddin said the sanitary worker was not a hospital employee and the company responsible for hiring him had also fired him from his job following the incident.
He said the hospital administration was taking special measures for the security of the attendants of patients and would not tolerate any mismanagement.
The FIR was registered at the Civil Line police station on the complaint of Sub-Inspector Saleem Raza under Sections 376 (punishment for rape), 509ii (insulting modesty or causing sexual harassment) and 511 (punishment for attempting to commit offences punishable with imprisonment for life or for a shorter term) of the Pakistan Penal Code.
Sections 376 and 511 were added later to the FIR. Notably, the text of the FIR did not mention rape.
The FIR said the police received a call that a suspect had harassed a woman’s daughter on the hospital’s third floor and upon arriving, the police were informed that the suspect was a sweeper at the hospital who was surrounded by a crowd after the girl had created noise.
Videos of protesters on social media showed them criticising the FIR, alleging that it downplayed the incident and criticising officials for covering up the matter in an attempt to silence the victim’s family.
