Oppn walks out of Assembly over medico’s ‘molestation’

Amir Karim Tantray

Tribune News Service

Jammu, January 20

The Opposition walked out of the Legislative Assembly today over the alleged molestation of a Ladakhi medical student by Dr Bhupesh Khajuria, head of the Department of Forensic Sciences, Government Medical College (GMC), Jammu.

The opposition members in the House created ruckus over the issue and raised slogans against the government, demanding the sackingof the doctor. However, the government did not pay any heed.

As soon as the House assembled, Congress MLAs stood up from their seats and marched into the well. They were supported by National Conference (NC) MLAs. Carrying placards, they were up in arms against the doctor and the government for not doing enough to punish the doctor.

They asked Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti to break her silence over the issue. The issue stalled the proceedings of the House for around 15 minutes and ended with a walkout by the Opposition members.

On December 26 last year, the Bakshi Nagar police in Jammu had registered a molestation case against Dr Bhupesh Khajuria after the parents of a final year student of forensic sciences, belonging to Ladakh, approached the police with the complaint of molestation of their daughter by the doctor on December 20.

The issue snowballed into a major controversy with MLAs of the Ladakh region, Nawang Rigzin Jora (Leh MLA), Deldien Namgyal (Nubra MLA) and Asgar Ali Karbalai (Kargil MLA), met the Chief Minister, demanding action against the erring doctor.

The Student Association of Ladakh had also raised the issue and taken to streets demanding stern action against the doctor.

On January 2, Dr Khajuria was suspended and attached to the Directorate of Health, Jammu. An internal inquiry was also ordered. However, no further action has been taken against the doctor so far.