AIIMS’ Doctor’s Body Writes to Health Ministry After Caste and Gender Harassment Victim Attempts Suicide

The Resident Doctor’s Association of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) has written to health minister Dr. Harsh Vardhan about the inaction of the administration in a case of caste and gender based harassment of a doctor.

In their letter to the minister on Sunday, the doctors from India’s premier medical institute said that “...Despite multiple letters, there has been no adequate action taken to address this issue of grave concern,” mentioning that the doctor had written three letters to the administration in March. It mentioned that the victim had also written to the Women’s Grievance Cell and the SC-ST Welfare cell at the institute and the National SC-ST Commission in New Delhi, but that no action had been taken.

The doctors added that the lack of adequate action eventually led the doctor to try and take her life “after losing hope of justice in this prestigious institute.” A report in The Times of India mentioned that a colleague of the doctor claimed she had attempted suicide on Friday.

The Indian Express reported that the alleged perpetrator is a faculty member and that the victim overdosed on medication, but that her condition is stable. AIIMS Director Randeep Guleria had reportedly met the woman ten days ago and told the newspaper that “the sexual harassment committee had issued a showcause notice to the faculty. It had also started an enquiry, and so has the chief of the department.”

“The reluctant behaviour of Administration and the Institute committee led the resident to take such an extreme step of inflicting self-harm (sic),” the RDA’s letter said. The doctors appealed to the administration and government ministries to “expedite this process and address this injustice at the earliest.”