Almost four months after her ordeal at the ICU of the Government Medical College Hospital in Kozhikode, where she was sexually assaulted by an attender, Farsana (name changed) is still fighting for justice.
For the outside world, her assaulter has been arrested and dismissed from service. The five hospital employees who allegedly harassed her to retract her statement continue to be under suspension, and the police have submitted a chargesheet.
But Farsana explains how she had to battle all by herself to see progress in the case. “They won’t pay us any attention unless we keep the issue live. I can’t go to the media every time I feel that the authorities are apathetic towards my case,” Farsana told The Hindu.
The medical college authorities failed to appear before the Kerala Women’s Commission twice for hearings and did not submit a report on the case until Farsana went public with the issue. They had cancelled the suspension of the five persons who had allegedly harassed her, while the police investigation was still on, only to recall the order a day later due to her protest.
The medical college police had allegedly delayed the submission of the chargesheet until the media questioned them.
It was in mid-March 2023 that Farsana was allegedly sexually assaulted in the ICU of the hospital by Kuzhiparambath Saseendran while she was still in sedation following a thyroid surgery. Even though the police arrested him in a few days and he was suspended from service, the issue soon turned into a controversy when Farsana alleged that a few female members of the hospital staff had tried to coerce her into retracting her statement. “They questioned my integrity and behaved as if it was not a big deal since I was married and had kids. It was as if I had no right to feel violated by what he did to me when I was as good as a corpse. They offered me money to back out from the case,” Farsana said, adding that she was not in a position to respond since she was still nursing a sore throat.
They expected me to back down soon due to family pressure. Little did they know that I have the support of my whole family that is fighting alongside me. “Money will be an issue as we go forward. I have suffered too much and wonder how many more women could have suffered at that man’s hands and are scared to come out,” she said.
Farsana has forwarded her complaint to the Chief Minister and the Health Minister, but was yet to receive a response. “If needed, I will continue my protest before the Secretariat, but will not back down”, he added.
She is also looking forward to the next sitting of the Kerala Women’s Commission, where she plans to submit more evidence in her favour.
