Defunct CCTVs hit GH rape probe
Hospital’s lab technician had raped two sisters for four days
Investigations into the gang-rape of two sisters at Gandhi Hospital are not progressing mainly because several of the CCTV cameras set up in the hospital at high cost are not in working mode, police said on Wednesday.
A day ago, the Chilkalguda police reportedly detained four men, including the prime accused, a lab technician from the Gandhi Hospital, in connection with the gang-rape. One of the victims told the police that Uma Maheshwar, who works as a lab technician at the hospital, had confined the two sisters, aged 38 and 40, in a room and raped them for four days.
The sisters had visited the hospital for treatment of some ailment for their brother-in-law on August
4. The lab technician lured them into a room and confined them there to repeatedly rape them for four days, the victims told the cops.
The police normally relies on the footage from the CC cameras in addition to other modes of investigation. About 100 policemen searched the entire hospital on Wednesday to collect evidence of the alleged crime.
Senior police officials said that about 50 percent of the CC cameras at the hospital premises are dysfunctional. This made it tougher for the cops to trace and locate one of the two victims, who is missing now. “The 40 year old patient, who is reportedly missing since the alleged sexual assault, would have been traced easily had the cameras been functional. We have told the hospital management to make all the cameras in the premises functional,” officials from Chilkalguda police said.
The Superintendent of Gandhi hospital, Dr. Raja Rao however claimed that only 27 out of the entire 126 cameras were not functional. “We have 189 functional CC cameras in the hospital building. I had them cross-checked on Tuesday. We added 50 new cameras ton the building between the first and second wave of Covid, as some cameras were stolen,” he said.
As many as six police teams are working on the case to trace the missing patient. “We are coordinating with the Mahabubnagar police as well and are verifying all the claims of the victims. Efforts are on to submit a detailed report to the City Police Commissioner, Anjani Kumar,” said the officials investigating the case.
Senior police officials said, “The versions provided by the victims to us here are different from what they told the Mahabubnagar police. The complainant and members of her family claimed that they were assaulted in the security room, whereas there is no such room for the security staff. However, all angles will be verified and a report will be submitted before the police commissioner.”
● THE SISTERS had visited the hospital for treatment of some ailment for their brother-in-law on August 4. The lab technician lured them into a room and confined them there to repeatedly rape them for four days, the victims told the cops.