The 21-year-old nun, who was raped inside a passenger bus by five men including the bus driver, at Sabha Khola in Sankhuwasabha district the night of June 24, was flown to Kathmandu from Bhadrapur Friday evening and taken to TUTH as per arrangements made by the Ministry of Health and Population and NWC. [break]
But TUTH refused to admit the victim--who still keeps losing consciousness, cannot take food or even sit down on her own --saying she did not require treatment, and sent her back home.
"The duty officer and the doctor at emergency said she cannot be admitted at TUTH as it is a government hospital and advised us to take her to a private hospital," said the victim´s father, Krishna Bahadur Tamang of Khatamma, Bhojpur. NWC member Mohna Ansari, who had reached TUTH Friday evening, said doctors at emergency, who were rude, refused to admit the nun despite being repeatedly told about the nature of her case.
The victim was being treated in Siliguri, India--her financially weak family spent around Rs 300,000 through loans--till she was discharged on July 9. She was being brought to Kathmandu after the Women, Children and Social Welfare Committee of parliament on Tuesday directed the Home Ministry and the Ministry of Health and Population to make immediate arrangements for her treatment and relief.
The victim was left to suffer at the crammed emergency ward at TUTH for around three hours Friday and for around five hours on Saturday also due to negligence by the TUTH administration despite the presence of Dr Ramu Sharma, personal secretary of Minister of State for Health and Population Dharmashila Chapagain.
Dr Sharma had been sent by the minister Saturday to ascertain the victim´s admission. She was finally taken to the psychiatry ward, with Nefin General Secretary Ang Kaji Sherpa pushing the wheelchair after doctors and nurses dillydallied for an hour saying there was no one to move the patient.
TUTH Director Dr KP Singh tried to downplay the incident, arguing that the victim was finally admitted Saturday. "I didn´t know about the case Friday and directed the doctors to admit her Saturday after I was informed of the case," Dr Singh said.
But Dr Sharma, the minister´s personal secretary, claimed that he had talked to the director about the case on Friday. "I had contacted him Friday as well, saying the hospital was refusing to admit her. He only became serious today (Saturday) after Minister Chapagai herself called him this morning," Dr Sharma insisted.
Director Dr Singh, on his part, assured that he would find out who was on duty at emergency Friday evening and inquire why they had not admitted the patient and directed her to be taken to a private hospital.
---Five sent to judicial custody---
Sanhuwasabha District Court sent the five offenders to judicial custody on Wednesday after a rape and robbery case was lodged against them. A sum of Rs 130,000 that the nun´s aunt in Kakarbhitta, Jhapa had given her for construction work on a new house in Khatamma, went missing during the rape incident.
Police had arrested driver of the Bhawana Travels bus (Na 2 Kha 1395) Raju Limbu, 21, of Terhathum, ticket checker Sovit Magar, 17, of Pakhribas, Dhankuta, conductor Bhuwan Gurung, 24, of Madirambeni, Sankhuwasabha, bus help Avishek Magar, 18, of Dharan-15, and bus help from another bus Drona Bahadur Rai, 27, of Itahari-5, Sunsari, from Chainpur when they were returning with the unconscious nun inside the bus cabin the next morning, June 25.
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