BSMMU doctor accused of raping patient, threatening her with publishing video

A young woman from Bhola has accused a doctor at the Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University or BSMMU of raping her during treatment and threatening her with publishing the video of the incident on the internet.

Senior Correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 9 Jan 2018, 05:11 PM
Updated : 9 Jan 2018, 08:10 PM

Her father started a case at Shahbagh Police Station against Dr Riad Siddiky, a medical officer at the hospital’s Department of Dermatology and Venereology on Monday, OC Abul Hossain told bdnews24.com on Tuesday.

BSMMU Director Brig Gen Abdullah Al Harun told bdnews24.com Riad is now studying Doctor of Medicine or MD degree at the country's lone medical university.

He said no one has filed any written complaint over the alleged rape at the hospital yet. “We are checking the allegation on our own,” he said.

Dr Riad has denied the allegation, saying it was a ‘plot to force him to pay money’.

OC Abul said the alleged victim said in the case that her father brought her to the BSMMU for treatment on Jan 3.

Dr Riad tricked her into a room, saying others needed to check her, but no one was there in the room when he sexually assaulted her, the woman alleged.

“The woman also said the doctor asked her not to tell anyone about the incident, threatening her that he had filmed the incident and would publish it on the internet,” the OC said.

The woman was admitted to Dhaka Medical College Hospital’s One Stop Crisis Centre on Jan 4, and her father started the case after she was released from there.

She also gave a statement in a court, the OC said.

“We’ve informed the BSMMU authorities and are looking for Dr Riad,” he added.

BSMMU Vice-Chancellor Prof Kamrul Hasan Khan told bdnews24.com that he had heard about the case from one of his colleagues.

“If he (Riad) is found guilty, he must be punished. But we will also have to be careful so that no innocent person is penalised,” he said.

Dr Riad, speaking to bdnews24.com by telephone, said he met the patient, the alleged victim, at his weekly practice in Bhola around three months ago.

The woman later would visit him once a month, he said.

“She later called me on the mobile phone and said she had to visit a specialist for stomach ache and requested me to arrange an appointment.

“They came to me at the BSMMU on Dec 31, but I asked them to come again after two more days as I had not arranged an appointment by that time,” the physician added.

“They called me in the evening and alleged that I raped the woman,” he added.

Dr Riad also said he had received an SMS from the woman’s mobile phone number demanding money.

The doctor said he had contacted Shahbagh Police Station OC Abul through text messages.   

“Now I have been accused of rape in a case,” he said.

Riad, a member of the central committee of pro-Awami League doctors’ council Swachip, also suspects his ‘rivals in politics’ might have been using the woman to get him into trouble.