As the country is reeling under the shock of the horrific rape and murder of a trainee female doctor in Kolkata’s RG Kar Hospital, another heinous case has come to light, this time from Maharashtra’s Ratnagiri. According to police, an unknown auto-driver raped a 19-year-old nursing student after giving her spiked water. The victim was found unconscious and severely injured near Champak Ground in Ratnagiri district on Tuesday (August 27). She was shifted to the district hospital for treatment.
19-year-old nursing student raped in Maharashtra's Ratnagiri.
— Vani Mehrotra (@vani_mehrotra) August 27, 2024
The incident happened while she boarded an auto rickshaw to reach home. She was offered water laced with sedatives, by the auto driver. He thereafter took her to a secluded place, raped her, and fled the scene.… pic.twitter.com/VHKMxlVIcn
#BreakingNews | #Ratnagiri Nurse Rape Case: 19-Year-Old Trainee Nurse Returning Home From Duty Raped by Auto-Rickshaw Driver @Imvivekgupta @SakshiLitoriya_ pic.twitter.com/M0AHZZX57O
— News18 (@CNNnews18) August 27, 2024
According to the hospital sources, the victim has sustained multiple injuries which has raised suspicions of a brutal sexual assault or rape.
According to police officials, the nursing student booked an auto for college when the driver sexually assaulted her and fled from there. After regaining consciousness, the survivor called her family. Subsequently, her family lodged a Police complaint on Monday.
The Police said that an auto-rickshaw driver allegedly drugged and raped a 19-year-old nursing student on her way home from college in Maharashtra’s Ratnagiri. According to reports, the driver offered her spiked water and after she lost consciousness, he took her to a secluded place and sexually assaulted her.
Superintendent of Police (SP) Jayashree Gaikwad said that the age of the victim is 19 years. On the 26th of August morning, she took an auto rickshaw from the bus stand to go to college. During this time, the driver gave her water to drink. The victim lost consciousness when she drank the water.
When the victim regained consciousness, she found herself in a forest with her clothes torn. There were injury marks on her hands. Following the sexual assault, she reached the hospital and informed the Police about the incident. Police have registered a case against an unknown auto driver. They have launched a probe into this case and are making efforts to identify and arrest the culprits.
They are searching for the accused auto-rickshaw driver with the help of CCTV footage. Meanwhile, the survivor was admitted to the government hospital for treatment.
The case has sparked massive outrage in Ratnagiri with angry residents gathering in large numbers to demand Justice. They have staged a protest by holding ‘Rasta Roko Andolan’ (Road Block).
It is pertinent to note that the incident has come to light at a time when widespread protests are taking place across the nation to demand Justice for the 31-year-old trainee female doctor who was raped and murdered in Kolkata’s state-run RG Kar Medical College and Hospital on 9th August.
The case brought into the spotlight the horrific cases in recent times where medical staff had been attacked or sexually assaulted in their workplace and elsewhere. Click here, to read in detail the safety concerns raised by the health care professionals as well as major instances of attacks on medical staff in recent years.
This has led healthcare professionals to launch strikes and nationwide protests to demand strict laws to ensure their security at the workplace and outside.
Additionally, it has also drawn attention to the heinous cases of crime against women and minors, with voices getting louder to demand exemplary and swift punishment in such cases.
