Romeo doctor in hot water

A professionally qualified doctor of a State hospital in the Central province had a promising career. Prior to being posted to the Central Province, the doctor had worked in various hospitals for nearly 10 years. Many patients in the hill country sought his treatment and advice for various aliments. Although he was employed in the State sector he practised at private medical clinics in the area when he was off duty. He also practised at a clinic in the Gampola area. The young doctor was much sought after mostly by schoolgirls and young women with a plethora of health problems.

He gave a patient hearing to their problems and was willing to discuss their problems at length. When schoolgirls sought treatment at his clinic for a minor ailment such as influenza and cough, the doctor did a thorough physical examination by placing his stethoscope on their breasts for a longer period than necessary in the absence of a female nurse in the room. However, things took a different turn when he used his mobile camera phone to take pictures of the bared breasts of schoolgirls and young women. It was stored in his computer thereafter.

Suspicion

Some hospital employees began to suspect that something was amiss when schoolgirls and young women entered his consultation room. The doctor took considerable time to examine unlike in the case of elderly women. It was merely suspicion in the initial stages. The employees had no clue whatsoever as to what took place behind the door in the consultation room. Their suspicion eventually led to the unmasking of the Casanova doctor.

As time elapsed patients, mostly schoolgirls began to discuss their ordeal in the consultation room discreetly. News spread fast and it was on everybody’s lips. Following the revelation, the hospital employees became more suspicious when a young woman went to his consultation room. A hospital employee found a Pen Drive in the consultation room containing six nude photographs of young women. The revelation shocked the employees when they learnt that the nude photographs were of patients who sought treatment at the hospital.

Innocent girls

According to National Child Protection Authority (NCPA) sources, the doctor while examining the underaged schoolgirls with a stethoscope had photographed them with his mobile phone camera. The girls had not protested through fear and perhaps due to ignorance. However, the NCPA sleuths were horrified when they discovered a photograph of the doctor in a compromising sexual position with a female patient. After extensive investigations the sleuths traced two girls whose photographs were found in the compact disc. The girls were from Madawala a nearby village. A school teacher identified the girls when the photographs were shown to her. The sleuths meanwhile, learnt the modus operandi of the doctor after recording the statement of the schoolgirls.

The victims were identified as schoolgirls from Hemmathagama in Mawanella. The Pen Drive pictures were downloaded into a compact disc and handed over to girl’s parent whose photograph was found in the compact disc. The enraged parent took the Pen Drive to the NCPA and lodged a complaint against the doctor. The NCPA Chairperson Anoma Dissanayake ordered an investigation in to the complaint.

Embarrassed

According to NCPA sources, the doctor (35) was married. He hailed from Hendala-Wattala and resided at Thun-Modera Nattandiya. A schoolgirl who made a statement to the NCPA said that she had called over at his clinic a few months ago to seek treatment for a common cold. The doctor concerned had told her to go to the adjoining room. A short while later he removed her school tie and frock. Thereafter, he took off her brassiere and placed the stethoscope on her breasts to examine her. She felt embarrassed while being examined for a long time. When she came out of the consultation room, her companion inquired as to why she took such a long time. The doctor in his statement to the NCPA said that although he was married he was not blessed with children. He conceded that he derived some sexual pleasure by taking photographs of schoolchildren naked during the past two years.

The suspect doctor was arrested by the NCPA and produced before the Mawanella Magistrate on November 29, 2010. He was remanded till December 10, 2010, until investigations are completed. The laptop computer and the mobile camera phone found in the doctor’s consultation room were also produced in Court.

On an order made by Court, the laptop computer and the mobile camera phone were handed over to the Head of the Computer Section of the Colombo University for a report.

NCPA sleuths are also investigating other complaints against this doctor. A few months ago the NCPA arrested a doctor at Sri Jayawrdenapura hospital following a complaint lodged by the husband of a pregnant woman. The husband alleged that the doctor had behaved in an indecent manner while she was in the labour room. The doctor was produced in Court and remanded until investigations were completed. NCPA sources said that the file regarding the incident has been forwarded to the Attorney General for indictment.