New Delhi: Delhi Commission For Women (DCW) chief Swati Maliwal has issued a notice to the city government's health department, seeking an action-taken report within July 25 over delays in medical examination of rape survivors.
Noting that the commission has observed a lack of standardisation, allotment of resources and protocols for the medical examination, the DCW said it was a matter of great concern that rape survivors were made to wait unnecessarily at hospitals for such a simple procedure.
Citing the time taken by some government-run hospitals to prepare an internal MLC (medico-legal case), the panel said Deen Dayal Upadhyay Hospital took nearly 15 hours while Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narayan Hospital took almost 12 hours.
Stressing that this is a very serious matter, Maliwal sought to know details of infrastructure as well as human resources allotted at the hospitals for the medical examination of sexual assault survivors, including number of rooms and whether the same infrastructure is used for other purposes as well.
The panel has also asked the department to furnish the details of the SOP followed by the
hospitals in conducting medical examinations of sexual
assault survivors.
"The same should include the steps taken as soon as a survivor reaches the hospital, precautions taken during the examination and the steps taken until she leaves along with the timelines for the same.
"It should also include details of the desired/standard timeline for the medical examination of sexual assault survivors and the action taken against officers if the same is not adhered to," read the notice.
It has also asked the department to state the reasons for delay in the medical examination of sexual assault survivors and mention whether it has created SOPs for conducting such examinations.
"If no SOP is presently available, it is recommended that a SOP be formulated urgently for the same," it said.