An Indian-origin doctor, Mahesh Patwardhan who was working as a gynaecologist in the United Kingdom, has been sentenced by Woolwich Crown Court in South London to eight years in prison over charges of sexual assault on his female patients.
The South London Court has sentenced Patwardhan on four counts of sexual assault during the period July 31, 2008 and Sept 24, 2012, according to a Press Trust of India report. The sexual assault incidents took place at Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Woolwich and Blackheath Hospital in Lewisham, south-east London.
Patwardhan was also charged with fraud related to claims of false bills from private medical insurers for the procedures that he did not perform.
Judge Alice Robinson told the court that the statements from one of the sexual abuse victims was "harrowing." "You knew about the serious sexual abuse she suffered as a child," the judge told the doctor.
One of the victims had attempted suicide and said that Patwardhan ruined her life, the judge informed the court.
In another case, the Indian-origin doctor went ahead with the breast examination of a female patient, who was supposed to undergo hysterectomy. The patient had eariler informed Patwardhan that she has also got a mammogram done ( X-ray examination of breasts).
The doctor was also charged for asking one of his patients to show her tattooed bottom.
Patwardhan, who was accompanied by his wife and children in the court, pleaded guilty and denied the charges of sexual assault and fraud levelled against him.
