Image used for representational purposes only. | Photo credit: PTI
A minor girl was allegedly sexually assaulted at SSKM State Government Medical College and Hospital on Wednesday (October 22, 2025) afternoon. According to police, the accused was arrested that evening and booked under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offenses Act (POCSO).
Accused Amit Mallick is a former Group D staff member and a ward boy. He is a resident of Dhapa and was arrested and produced before the court on Thursday (October 23, 2025).
“Following a report from SSKM base, Bhowanipore PS contacted the victim and her statement was recorded following which a case was registered,” police said on Thursday.
Mallick allegedly assaulted the minor at SSKM Hospital in the toilet after luring her away from her parents. A 14-year-old girl was with her parents in the outpatient department waiting to see a doctor.
Nurse attacked by drunk man
In another attack, a nurse at a primary health center in Kaijuli Block of Birbhum district in Mohammad bazar area was physically assaulted by a drunken man on Wednesday night, injuring her severely. She was taken to Suri Super Specialty Hospital, where she received 22 stitches on her head. The accused was identified as Rajib Kahar, who was arrested by the local police.
These repeated incidents have raised questions about security at the state’s health facilities.
Many doctors’ forums condemned the attacks, including the Association of Medical Doctors and the Joint Doctors’ Platform (JPD).
We call for an immediate and comprehensive audit of hospital security protocols at all state facilities to prevent such atrocities,” JPD said in a statement Thursday.
A woman was also allegedly sexually harassed in public by a local strongman in north Kolkata’s Dakhineshwar area on October 21. The survivor said that when she raised the alarm, the accused physically assaulted her. She lodged a formal complaint with the police and the accused was arrested on Wednesday.
A series of incidents
A female doctor was assaulted by the patient’s family at Uluberia Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay Government Medical College and Hospital on Monday (October 20). The accused men, one of whom was identified as a police home guard, were accused of threatening to rape the doctor and physically assaulting her at the hospital.
In early October, a medical student from Odisha was sexually assaulted by a group of men near her medical college in Durgapur.
In September 2025, a member of the medical staff was raped by the manager of the facility in the hospital in Panskura.
Last year in 2024, a female doctor at RG Kar Hospital was raped and murdered in the hospital, which took the nation by storm and months of protests raged in West Bengal.
A war of words
The opposition strongly protested the ruling Trinamool Congress government over a series of attacks on women in health facilities in October 2025.
CPI(M) state secretary Mohammad Salim told The Hindu on Wednesday that such incidents have become “regular” in West Bengal and accused the ruling party of harboring the perpetrators.
However, Trinamool state vice-president Jay Prakash Majumdar called the attacks a “social evil” and said: “Rape and assault on women is a cancer of society and a national problem across countries.”
Mr Salim also criticized the ruling party for not learning from the rape and murder of RG Karem and beefing up security measures at state hospitals, calling it a “failure of the state’s law and order system”.
Published – 23 Oct 2025 20:57 IST
