Dr Preethi’s death: Telangana Governor seeks thorough probe, report on SOPs to deal with harassment

Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan suggested strengthening the grievance redressal mechanism and the creation of a students' counselling cell headed by the head of the psychiatry wing in each medical college.

The governor, who is also the chancellor of KNRUHS, also enquired about the SOPs in place to deal with the duty hours of the doctors and assistant professors, besides regarding the establishment and functioning of CCTV cameras at medical colleges and hospitals. (File)

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Telangana Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan Tuesday wrote to the vice-chancellor of Kaloji Narayana Rao University of Health Sciences (KNRUHS) seeking a thorough probe into the death of Dr Preethi Dharavath, the postgraduate student at Warangal’s Kakatiya Medical College who was allegedly harassed by her senior. The governor also sought a detailed report on the standard operating procedures in place to deal with incidents of harassment in the university.

In her letter, Soundararajan said “precious time” was lost “in shifting Dr Preethi to the NIMS Hospital” in Hyderabad and suggested that “the super speciality experts and required advanced medical equipment should have been moved to MGM Hospital so as to give the best possible treatment” to the 26-year-old MD anaesthesia student.

Dr Preethi, who was on duty at MGM Hospital, allegedly injected herself with drugs in a bid to end her life and was found unconscious in the staff room in the early hours of February 21. Doctors suspected multiple cardiac arrests and confirmed multi-organ failure before moving her to Hyderabad for super specialty treatment. Warangal police later arrested her senior Dr M A Saif on charges of abetment to suicide and also invoked provisions against ragging, besides the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.

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Preethi died on February 26. Her family believes she may have been murdered and has sought an inquiry by a sitting judge of the Telangana High Court into the matter.

The governor, who is also the chancellor of KNRUHS, also enquired about the SOPs in place to deal with the duty hours of the doctors and assistant professors, besides regarding the establishment and functioning of CCTV cameras at medical colleges and hospitals. Issues such as the functioning of the grievance redressal cell, addressing the concerns of victims, evaluation of feedback from doctors and their working conditions were also highlighted in the letter.

In addition to a report on the anti-ragging measures and mechanisms in place, the Governor called for the strict implementation of the anti-ragging and anti-harassment laws in the medical colleges with a special focus on protecting the students. She suggested the strengthening of the grievance redressal mechanism and the creation of a students’ counselling cell headed by the head of the psychiatry wing in each medical college.

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