A Group-D staff allegedly molested a 27-year-old woman recuperating from an abortion in Howrah District Hospital on Sunday morning.

Shah Alam, 28, the accused, was arrested, produced in court and remanded in judicial custody for 14 days.

According to her husband, the woman, suffering from abdominal pain, was admitted to the hospital last Tuesday. She had undergone an abortion in a nursing home in Ichapur a fortnight ago.

On Friday, the woman was operated on and sent to bed no. 14 of the hospital’s female surgical ward.

Said the husband: “When I met her on Saturday, she was feeling better. But when I returned this morning, I saw she was being administered oxygen. I asked her about the sudden deterioration in her condition and learnt that she had been molested.”

No other staff member was present in the ward when the incident occurred, the woman told her husband. Another patient raised an alarm when she saw Shah Alam molesting the woman. The man threatened and molested her too, claimed the husband.

On hearing the shrieks of the patients, some employees of the hospital rushed to the ward and locked up Shah Alam in the ward master’s room. The superintendent of the hospital was informed about the incident. He called the Howrah police.

Nayan Chandra, superintendent of the hospital, said: “I have ordered a departmental inquiry into the incident. If the allegation is proved, we’ll definitely take action against Shah Alam.”

An angry crowd demanding exemplary punishment for the accused gathered in front of the ward master’s office on Sunday. The crowd even tried to snatch away Shah Alam when he was being led away by the police.

Said deputy superintendent of district police Arun Kumar Majumdar: “I have visited the female surgical ward of the hospital and have talked with the patients and nurses. Investigations are on.”