Bhopal gangrape: Doctors say victim had 'consensual sex', brands her 'accused'

The travails of the 19-year-old gang-rape victim of Bhopal seems to have no end in sight. First, the police refused to file a case, terming her version as fictitious. Now, a week after the incident, a medical examination report even called her "accused" in the case and stated that the intercourse with the two accused who allegedly tied her up and raped her for hours was "consensual."

The Madhya Pradesh administration has, however, issued show-cause notices to two women doctors for  calling 19-year-old victim as "accused" in the medical report prepared by them. The doctors were asked to explain why they stated that the sexual act was consensual.  

The victim was tied up and gang-raped in Bhopal last week and worse, the police officers whom the victim approached first refused to file her complain for almost 11 hours.

While 10 police officers were suspended and three were transferred for the delay in filing a case, the medical report by the doctors of the Sultania Lady Hospital has come as another shock.

Here's what happened

The victim, an Indian Police Service (IPS) aspirant, was going home after her coaching class when she was allegedly attacked  by two men on October 31 near the Habibganj Railway Station in Bhopal. The men allegedly tied her up and  took turns raping her. In the complaint the girl stated that the accused took frequent breaks and went for tea and gutka (tobacco) before resuming their assault on her.

The police refused to file a case over her complaint initially and worse, a police officer branded it as a "filmy" story.

Wrong medical report prepared

When the first medical report was prepared by Dr Khushbhu Gajbhiye and Dr Sanyogita, it stated that the sexual act was committed with her consent and they also branded her as the "accused" instead of mentioned her as the victim.

However, the senior doctors have said that it was an inadvertent mistake on the part of the junior doctors and has hence been corrected. The hospital claimed that the junior doctors inadvertently missed the word 'without' when they explained the sexual act by the two accused. 

It should have been "without the consent" of the victim. The detailed report, however, makes it clear that the victim had injuries in her private parts, which indicated that the intercourse was not consensual. 

"It's wrong but it has been corrected, in future we have issued instructions that a senior woman doctor or her team will assist in the internal and external inquiry of such sensitive cases," Dr Peepre, superintendent of Sultania Women Hospital, was quoted as saying by the NDTV.

Peepre also added that action would be taken against the doctors involved.

Meanwhile, Congress leader Sharad Jain has condemned the usage of the word "consensual" in a gang-rape report and said that it was indeed outrageous. "Nobody will be spared if guilty ... On the basis of humanity we can't act without proper knowledge," said Jain.