Two doctors at Aligarh Muslim University’s Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College, including the one who had questioned the validity of the FSL report into the Hathras gang-rape case, were dismissed from service on Tuesday (October 20).
Their ouster comes a day after a CBI team visited the hospital and questioned staff.
The two doctors are Dr Mohammad Azimuddin Malik and Dr Obaid Imtiazyul Haque.
Soon after Uttar Pradesh police, based on the FSL report claimed that the 19-year-old woman was not raped, Dr Malik had said such a report holds no value when the samples from the victim were collected 11 days after the incident.
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Citing government guidelines, Dr Malik had said that forensic evidence can be found up to 96 hours after the incident and that the FSL report cannot confirm rape in the incident.
Dr Haque, who is also connected to the case, had attested the MLC under “provisional opinion” given by the AMU hospital which spoke about “signs of use of force” on the victim.
Both Dr Malik and Dr Haque on Tuesday morning received letters from the CMO in-charge Dr SAH Zaidi, instructing them not to perform any further duties.
“This is to inform you that as directed by the Hon’ble Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Tariq Mansoor via telephone on 20.10.2020 at 11:14 am, your appointment on the post of Medical Officer, Emergency & Trauma, JNMCH, is rejected with immediate effect. Therefore, you are requested not to perform any further duties,” Indian Express quoted the letter as saying.
The university administration told IE that there have been no suspensions and that Dr Malik and Dr Haque were appointed to fill vacancies left behind by chief medical officers down with COVID-19. They have been asked to leave as the concerned CMOs have joined duty.
The administration later said that it may try accommodating the doctors somewhere else in the hospital.
Both doctors say they are being targeted due to their involvement in the case.
Dr Malik said he was rebuked by his seniors for giving his “personal opinion” on the case to the media and wasn’t even paid last month’s salary.
Dr Haque says he received his last salary in August.
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“I was last paid in August. We were hired because our seniors weren’t well. That time, we were told to join immediately. I did my Master’s in surgery from AMU and graduated this year. I worked during the pandemic and risked my life and now they have terminated us because Dr Malik spoke to the media and they think that I leaked information. I am still not sure why I am being targeted. Three days ago, I came to know that my appointment will be rejected. We still don’t have a written statement from the Vice-Chancellor about this… This is sad, we didn’t do anything wrong.”
The gang-rape victim was first admitted to the AMU hospital before being shifted to Delhi’s Safdarjung Hospital. She died on September 29, two weeks after four upper caste men allegedly raped her in a field near her house in Hathras.