Doctor handed 10-year jail term for raping patient

A young doctor found guilty of raping a 30-year-old woman admitted to the Intensive Care Unit in a hospital at Navi Mumbai, was on Tuesday sentenced to 10 years imprisonment by a local court in Thane, Maharashtra.

Thane Additional Sessions Judge R D Sawant handed out the punishment to Dr Vishal Vanne (26), who was also fined with Rs 1,000 along with another three-month imprisonment in the 2010 case.

Additional Public Prosecutor Sandhya Bacchav told the court that it was on October 16, 2010 the victim and her family had come to the ModernCollege grounds for Durga Pooja when she suffered uneasiness and was taken to the nearby LotusHospital in Vashi.

That night she was admitted to the ICU, as her condition worsened.

According to the complaint, the accused doctor was on night duty in the ward, where she was left alone with a staff nurse after a medical examination.

As the staff nurse was suffering from asthma, the accused asked her to leave the ICU and take rest. Thereafter the doctor allegedly gave an injection to the patient, making her drowsy.

The prosecution further told the court that after about two in the morning, the accused locked the door of the ICU from inside and molested the victim and also raped her repeatedly.

The victim, in her statement to the court said as she was not well that night, she could not shout or scream for help.

Next morning, when she narrated the incident to her husband, Vanne was handed over to the police.

The woman's husband told the court that on two occasions in the night he wanted to enter the ICU to check on the condition of his wife but could not do so as the door was locked from inside and also curtains were drawn.

Also, another patient in the ICU was fast asleep in the room when the incident took place.

The staff nurse, in her deposition, said she entered the ICU next morning around 5.30 am after she was driven out the night before.