The friends and well-wishers of Dr Sugirtha Sivakumar are scheduled to meet the Director General of Police (DGP), Tamil Nadu seeking justice for Dr Sugirtha. Speaking to EdexLive, Sugirtha's previous batchmate Dr Vimala P said, "We are scheduled to meet the DGP Thiru Shankar Jiwal today at 5 pm and we will request him to speed up the process of getting justice for Sugirtha."
Last week, the postgraduate (PG) resident doctor Dr Sugirtha Sivakumar died by suicide owing to sexual harassment and toxicity. Giving more details about the case filed by the deceased's father, Vimala said, "The police inquiry is still going on and the chargesheet is yet to be filed."
Letter to Health Secretary
This morning, the group of friends met the Principal Secretary of the Health and Family Welfare Department, Gagandeep Singh Bedi, and submitted a representation. "It pains us that the hands that saved countless lives has now gone up in ashes," the letter read, which EdexLive has access to.
"Sexual harassment of medical students is becoming a commonplace occurrence bringing shame and indignity to the noble profession. It must be dealt with strongly and swiftly to restore discipline and order to the medical profession," it added.
The demands as per the letter are:
1. Release a statement addressing the heinous crime and condemning the actions of the accused and assurance of immediate action
2. Expedite the forensic lab analysis and furnish the final postmortem report at the earliest
3. Empanel an impartial judicial enquiry by a sitting judge with representation from students and civil society to look into the matter incisively and render justice. No mercy should be shown to the sexual predators.
4. Expedite a speedy trial and bring the perpetrators to justice swiftly to set the correct precedence.
5. Suspension of the accused from work and revoke their medical license
6. Institute an independent democratic deposition for all the students and faculties of Sree Moogambigai Medical College to conduct enquiry about any other incidents of abuse in the institution and provide them with financial and legal support if they are willing to come forward
7. Demand the educational institution to refund the tuition fees to the bereaved parents of the fallen doctor
8. Set up a 24/7 hotline/ helpline where the medical students can reach out to the police or support systems to report harassment and obtain guidance as to what are their rights, what are the possible next steps and what to expect as they take it forward if they wish to do so.
9. Ensure that medical institutions which do not have a functional and impartial Internal Complaints Committee as per POSH act with external oversight must be derecognised and admission of new students discontinued until remedial measures are taken
10. Ensure 'Employer Liability' to create responsibility regarding sexual harassment to (a) prevent the incident, (b) investigate incidents, and (c) correct the incidence in their workplaces.
11. Creation of provision for medical students who are victims of harassment to continue their education in another institution or discontinue their education with no fine imposed on them
12. Provision for counselling services be provided to victims of sexual harassment by a counsellor of their choice either within or outside the institution funded by the institution of study
13. POSH workshops to be conducted in medical colleges compulsorily to empower students with the knowledge of their rights and female mentors allotted to students to approach in case of any harassment
14. The highest management level must lead the charge to create a workplace culture where harassment is not tolerated, and practical prevention efforts are in place. The employer should design a work culture based on mutual respect, inclusion, and dignity
15. More women to be encouraged to occupy leadership positions such as department chairs, search committee leads, deans, and chief executive officers of hospitals and physician-hospital organisations. Those who prevent or respond to harassment should be rewarded, and those who fail to respond should be held accountable for the failure
Hoping to speed up the process of the case, they said in the letter, "We pray that you look into the matter swiftly sir and bring upon the change needed to safeguard the well being of the doctors who look after us day and night. Violence against doctors needs to be addressed swiftly and decisively to set a strong precedent."
It is said that a letter with the same demands will be submitted to the DGP. Giving more details about the meeting with the health secretary, Vimala said, "The health secretary said he has already contacted the Collector of Kanyakumari Thiru PN Sridhar and DGP. Additionally, he assured us that he is keeping track of the case and will do the needful."
(Update: The delegation did not get to meet the DGP today. The appointment has been rescheduled to tomorrow, October 12)
