A 40-year-old female patient from Giridih admitted in Patliputra Medical College and Hospital, faced an unusual situation on Tuesday night when a youth of Telipara locality, Aman Kumar Sao, posed nude before her and made sexual overtures.

The incident took place 36 days after a mentally challenged woman patient was raped at the hospital by an ambulance driver on July 12.

The incident however exposed the failure of the police and district administration’s efforts to heighten security in the hospital, which caters to the health care needs of people of several adjoining districts besides Dhanbad, including, Giridih, Jamtara, Godda, Sahebganj, Pakur, Chatra, Koderma etc despite the repeated incidents of violence or attack against women.

A high level team of district administration and police led by, Kumar Tarachand, additional district magistrate (law and order), which visited the hospital after the incident of rape carried out security assessment and submitted a report to Deputy Commissioner Sandeep Kumar recommending establishment of a police outpost in the hospital.

The team during the security assessment of July 13 also objected over the mushrooming of a large number of eateries and stalls inside the hospital and recommended plugging all unauthorised entries through the boundary wall of the hospital.

Several of these recommendations, including the establishment of a police outpost inside the hospital however, are yet to be followed as the site selection of the police outpost is yet to be completed.

The latest incident took place at around 11 pm near the toilet where the women were washing the utensils in the wash basin. Aman Kumar Sao who arrived at the hospital to check up on a patient of his locality and came out of the toilet to wash his hand at the wash basin shouted at the woman when she was leaving for her ward, pointing towards a saucer left by the woman at the wash basin.

As she approached towards the wash basin to take back the saucer, Aman exposed himself after which the woman started shouting and other patients and attendants rushed to the site and later handed him to the police.

Kishor Tirkey, Officer in Charge of Saraidhela police station said, “We have arrested the main accused and lodged a case against him under section 354 of IPC, related to criminal force against the women with the aim of outraging her modesty.”

When asked about the repeated incidents of attack against women patients in hospital, Tirkey said,“We had initiated the process of establishing the police outpost inside the hospital and also some sites were suggested by hospital administration inside the hospital but we want a site near the gate so that it is visible to people and patients can approach the police at any time.”