A nursing officer at AIIMS Bhubaneswar was arrested for "sexually harassing" a woman attendant at the medical facility, police said on Tuesday.
Accused nursing officer Nanu Ram Choudhury was booked under various sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, after a complaint was lodged against him at the Khandagiri Police Station in the city, a senior officer said.
On Monday, the woman attendant at AIIMS Bhubaneswar had alleged that she was sexually harassed and attempts were made to outrage her modesty by the male nursing officer.
The woman, in her complaint, claimed that the nursing officer called her to a doctor's chamber around 1 am on Sunday. Unaware about Choudhary’s intentions, the woman went there and he started misbehaving and inappropriately touching her. He also tried to sit beside the victim despite her resistance.
The woman also claimed that she could manage to flee the spot and informed the hospital control room about the incident.
"I demand justice and the arrest of the nursing officer. We are not safe at the hospital," she told reporters.
The incident occurred in the orthopaedic department of the hospital. The complainant further alleged that the nursing officer took advantage of the lack of CCTV surveillance inside the room where the assault took place.
Immediately after the registration of the FIR, all the employees, including the woman attendant, of various outsourcing agencies engaged in AIIMS Bhubaneswar, started a demonstration outside the main gate of the hospital, seeking action against the accused.
They suspended the protest after the accused was arrested, the officer said.
AIIMS authorities said their internal complaints committee (ICC) has also launched an inquiry into the female attendant’s allegations against the nursing officer and further action will be taken accordingly.
Meanwhile, AIIMS-Bhubaneswar contractual workers’ union president Anjan Nath claimed the authorities attempted to suppress the matter.
The incident has come at a time when Odisha is witnessing a spate of crimes against women, including the recent gang-rape of a woman on the infamous Gopalpur beach, the self-immolation of a second-year BEd student from Fakir Mohan (Autonomous) College in Balasore, and the burning of a minor girl in Balanga, Puri. These cases have triggered outrage across the state and beyond.
Protest in Parliament over 'rising' crimes against women, children
Biju Janata Dal (BJD) MPs staged a protest at the Gandhi statue in Parliament on Tuesday, decrying the alleged deteriorating law and order situation in BJP-ruled Odisha, particularly the surge in crimes against women and children.
Carrying placards that read 'Mahilaon ki cheekh aur sarkar ki khamoshi' (the cries of women and the silence of the government) and 'Odisha BJP ka shaasan, apradhiyo ki shaan' (BJP's rule in Odisha, a pride for criminals), the members demanded immediate central intervention and a judicial inquiry into the recent "horrific" incidents.
Rajya Sabha MP Sasmit Patra said, “Women and children in Odisha today are completely unprotected. The law and order situation is collapsing.”
BJD MP Muzibulla Khan had similar concerns. He said the BJP raised the slogan of “Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao" to come to power, but it is "failing to protect our daughters".
Subhasish Khuntia, another BJD MP, said crimes against women and students are continuing "unabated" under the “double engine government” in Odisha.
“There is no safety for women under the BJP rule,” he said.
The Opposition, Biju Janata Dal and Congress, have been targeting the state government over the spike in cases of atrocities against women in the state under its rule during the last year.
The Opposition claimed that 18,000 cases of crimes against women have been reported in the state since January and that 44,000 women have gone missing over the last few years.
According to the white paper released by the Odisha government, at least 3,054 rape cases were reported in 2024 alone — an increase of eight per cent over the previous year.
