Hyderabad: An 18-year-old girl, admitted with fractures in both legs after a road accident, was allegedly sexually harassed by another patient’s attendant at a hospital in Punjagutta, police said. The accused was attending to another patient in the same ward, they added.In the early hours of July 31, he allegedly touched the teenager inappropriately while her mother, who was staying with her as an attendant, was asleep. Following a complaint by the victim’s family, Punjagutta police booked a case under Sections 75 (sexual harassment) and 79 (word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman) of the BNS on the night of July 31 and arrested the accused on Aug 1.He was later granted bail by a court.According to police, the victim, a student from rural Telangana, met with a road accident on July 27 and was admitted to the hospital the same day with fractures in both legs. Her parents had been staying with her in the ward.Between 3 am and 4 am on July 31, while the victim’s mother was asleep and her father had briefly stepped out to use the washroom, the accused, Nageswara Rao (35), who was an attendant for another patient in the ward, allegedly touched the victim inappropriately.Cops said that the victim, who was intubated, tried to wake her mother, but by then the accused had returned to his bed. Her parents later noticed that she appeared distressed in the accused’s presence. When questioned in private, she disclosed the alleged assault. The family alerted the hospital authorities and then approached the police, said a Punjagutta police officer.“The accused works for a private agency that provides patient attendants. He was arrested on Aug 1, produced before the court and later released on bail,” Punjagutta inspector, E Jahangeer Yadav, said.
