Kozhikode (Kerala) | Congress on Saturday attacked the Left government in Kerala, accusing it of being unfair towards a female nursing officer who testified in favour of a woman allegedly sexually assaulted by an employee of the Government Medical College Hospital here.
Leader of Opposition in the Assembly V D Satheesan alleged that the state government and the state Health Minister's stands indicate they were protecting those who tried to intimidate the victim.
Satheesan contended that Health Minister Veena George ought to have stood with the victim and the nursing officer.
His allegations came in the wake of nursing officer - P B Anitha -- protesting outside the Government Medical College Hospital since April 1 for denying her appointment there, despite a Kerala High Court direction to do so.
Anitha had moved the Kerala High Court in February against her transfer to a Government Medical College in Idukki.
The High Court had noted that while the government was initiating disciplinary action against certain other staff of the Medical College in Kozhikode, no such proceedings were taken against her.
"Anyway, if there were any laches or negligence on the part of the petitioner (Anitha) in performing her duty, necessarily she should have been proceeded for disciplinary action. No one has a case that the petitioner conducted herself warranting any disciplinary action.
"The transfer itself appears to have been an offshoot of an ongoing inquiry. When the petitioner has been transferred from Medical College, Kozhikode to Medical College, Idukki, it implies that it is not for any administrative exigency but by way of punishment, that too, without conducting any proper inquiry," the court had said.
While the court had indicated it was inclined to set aside her transfer order, it refrained from doing so as someone else had already been appointed in her place.
Instead, the court directed that Anitha be appointed in the vacancy that would arise in the Kozhikode Medical College on April 1.
"We make it clear that the impugned order (of transfer) shall not reflect in the service record of the petitioner as an adverse finding or report," the court had said.
However, when she went to the hospital on April 1, she was told that no order of appointment had come from the government yet and therefore, she decided to protest outside it, Anitha told TV channels.
As the protest continued, George, on Friday, told reporters that action was taken against Anitha based on a report given by the Director of Medical Education (DME).
She said the DME has found that there were "supervisory lapses" on the nurse's part when the incident had occurred in March last year.
The lapse on her part cannot be "ratified" by her subsequent conduct, the minister said and added the action taken by the government was in the interests of the sexual assault victim.
The same day, the victim had come out in support of Anitha by claiming the nurse had stood up for her.
The victim had also said that if persons who stood up for survivors like her are punished like this, no one would do so in future.
As Anitha's protest continued, Satheesan met her today offering his party's full support and then while speaking to the media, he termed the government and the minister as "shameless".
He further said that if the minister was refusing to implement the High Court order it amounts to violating her oath of office.
"Her (Veena George) conduct is unconstitutional and unlawful. Be it the CM, the Health Minister or the government, they are duty bound to implement the High Court order," he added.
Satheesan alleged the government stand indicated it was with the accused and those who helped him and not the victim.
Meanwhile, the government has moved a revision petition in the High Court against its direction to appoint Anitha in the Government Medical College here, while she has filed a contempt case over her continued non-appointment.
"I will end my protest only after I get my order of appointment," she told TV channels today.
