The offence of sexual assault is a brutal, dirtying, demoralizing assault on a woman, and if fully proven demands the most rigorous penalties allowed by law. Equally, the allegation of rape is easy to make, and the man accused falsely of the offence may shatter his life as well as the family he belong.
• The doctor should concentrate on what is the truth and on view of that what are the biological evidences available and can/required to be collected.
• The history of previous sexual intercourse of the female victim, Physical signs of injury to corroborate the history of incidence should be recorded after Medical examination with followingDOES & DON’T DOES
• Detailed and consistent history about time, place and circumstances of occurrence. The examination of scene of incidence, collection of various evidences, like, spot of blood, semen, bed sheet etc should be recorded.
• Doctor should neither act as detective nor as curtain for law
• Police should be informed only with the consent of the victim or her parents; otherwise, it will be a violation of professional secrecy. Sometimes, the victim may not give the correct history and alleged cause of injuries as due to rape.
• Doctors have no role of a detective. Even if the findings are suggestive of a sexual assault, he should not interrogate the victim to ascertain the veracity of the history.
• The version of the woman should be recorded verbatim and necessary treatment should be given if the victim is unconscious or unable to give a coherent version of the history, the police should be notified.
• Whatever be the case, all the details should be entered in the register, collect necessary samples and keep them in safe custody. Victim may change her/his mind and file a complaint before the police at a later date. Then the doctor has to disclose all the information to the Police.
(Contributed by Dr Sudhir Gupta)
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