NEW DELHI, NOV 6: Two days after a 25-year-old junior resident doctor, Prabhu Venkatesh, committed suicide at LNJP Hospital, colleagues called off their strike, saying they were under pressure from faculty members. However, they had more to offer by way of conjecture.Among the most serious charges they made, one was that the woman, Raj Rani, who had accused Venkatesh of sexual molestation, had made a similar complaint against another doctor in another hospital. However, residents said they were yet to get details about it.Residents also alleged that a lower rung employee in the out-patient department had a grouse against Venkatesh and had assisted the woman in framing such a damning accusation against the doctor. Venkatesh had refused to see a patient brought by this employee on priority and the staffer had vowed to get even, said doctors. Venkatesh had committed suicide after a hospital inquiry had indicted him of sexual harassment.Dr Devendra, a friend who passed out with him from Bellary MedicalCollege, told The Indian Express that Venkatesh had said that Raj Rani had actually been upset over not being able to access the medicines that were prescribed by the doctor. The doctor had reportedly prescribed medicines worth Rs 500 and all of them could be bought from only outside the hospital, it is said. The patient, who was a chronic asthmatic, was also asking for a nebuliser worth Rs 200. But the doctor reportedly said it had to be bought from outside.Prabhu told his friend that the woman returned an hour later and went straight to additional medical superintendent Anil Mehra and complained of sexual molestation. Apparently, Mehra had told Venkatesh that the committee was formed to ward off trouble from the patient's side. The hospital authorities are now planning to conduct a fresh probe into the matter with a different committee.Venkatesh was cremated on Thursday by his brother who had flown down from Shimoga.Most painful deathPrabhu Venkatesh chose the most painfulway to die. He opted for a muscle relaxant, Scoline, which first paralyses the body before it finally kills. The medicine is used for anaesthesia, but can paralyse the body in large doses. There are other medicines which kill faster, said doctors. It is odd that he chose to die such a slow and painful death, they said.
