It seems that justice is not available to women recruited at the level of officers as atrocities are quite common on them even in defence

Gmail Mahesh Pratap Singh Yogi M P Singh <yogimpsingh@gmail.com>

Mahesh, this is illegal

1 message

Manasi <info@jhatkaa.org> 29 October 2021 at 17:09

Reply-To: info@jhatkaa.org

To: yogimpsingh@gmail.com

Dear Mahesh,

These days, I struggle to believe that the world can ever be a safe space for women. 

On September 9, Harmukh, a Flight Lieutenant from the Indian Air Force, reportedly r*ped an IAF officer in Coimbatore.  When the survivor approached her seniors regarding the incident, she received unsolicited “advice” about staining the family name and was asked to withdraw her complaint from the Tamil Nadu police.

Despite the lack of support, the survivor shared her narrative and demanded justice. However, when she went to the Air Force Hospital, Coimbatore, to undergo her medical examination, the two doctors treating her were allegedly unethical in their conduct and completely violated her bodily integrity.

The 28-year-old survivor reported that the doctors asked about her sexual history and repeatedly watched the confession video of her assaulter. “After seeing the video, I was shattered as this was the first time the facts became clear to me that I have been raped,” the officer said.

As if this is not harrowing enough, the survivor reports that the doctors seemed unsure of the medical protocol to follow. In addition to pressing for evidence from her, one of the doctors reportedly conducted the two-finger test - a highly unscientific, invasive and ILLEGAL practice that the Supreme Court banned in 2013. The survivor felt as if she had to “relive the trauma” of her assault.

The doctors allegedly even delayed the submission of the reports to the authorities. All of their actions are in gross violation of the ‘Guidelines & Protocols Medico-legal care for survivors/victims of Sexual Violence’ prescribed to medical practitioners. Although the Indian Air Force chief says that no two-finger test was conducted, a grave issue such as this calls for a thorough investigation into the matter.

We demand that the Air Force Hospital, Coimbatore:

Immediately suspend the two doctors while the investigation is ongoing.

Mandate sensitisation workshops for all health staff on conducting medical examinations with care as per the ‘Guidelines & Protocols Medico-legal care for survivors/victims of Sexual Violence’.

We also demand that the Tamil Nadu branch of the Indian Medical Association, under the presidency of Dr P Ramakrishnan, investigate whether the two-finger test is routinely conducted on sexual assault survivors at Air Force Hospital, Coimbatore. Conducting an illegal internal medical exam on a survivor is nothing short of another assault. We need to hold the irresponsible doctors accountable and ensure that this is not common practice at the hospital.

In solidarity,

Manasi and the Jhatkaa.org team