Sion Hit And Run Case: Hint Of Complicity Of Hospital Staff And Dereliction On Part Of Police

Mumbai: If the Pune Porsche accident case revealed shoddy investigation and destruction of evidence, a similar incident at Lokmanya Tilak Hospital, Sion, also reveals the complicity of the hospital staff and dereliction on the part of the police.

On May 24, around 7.45 p.m. Rubeda Shaikh (60) was knocked down in the hospital driveway by Dr Rajesh Dere, head of the forensic department. CCTV footage clearly shows the woman, who had come for treatment, being knocked down by the car.

Several people, including a police constable, can be seen rushing to the accident spot. Dr Dere admitted the woman to the casualty ward of the hospital, with the assistance of bystanders. According to the FIR filed by the victim's son Shahnawaz Sheikh (31) Dr Dere informed the ward staff that the woman had fainted and immediately escaped in his car.

The failure of the hospital staff starts here. They did not inform the police about the accident, even though it is mandatory to do so. Police personnel are posted at every public hospital near the casualty ward. The cops at the hospital too did not bother. In fact, a police constable had rushed to rescue the woman who was crushed under the wheel of the car.

It was not until several hours later, after the woman had died, the police were called in. The police failed the second time when they arrested Dr Dere more than 24 hours after the accident. The first failure was when the Sion police in the FIR registered only bailable offences like IPC 279 (rash driving), 338 (causing grievous hurt), 304 A (causing death by negligence) and 177 (giving false information).

Little wonder, Dr Dere was out on bail within a few hours. His blood sample was taken after over 24 hours and there is little likelihood of alcohol being found. It is not clear if the hospital staff tampered with that also as happened in the Porsche case. Dr Dere is an expert in forensic medicine and was extremely familiar with the procedure followed by the police in criminal matters.

As head of the forensic department Dr Dere often gets to interact with the police. Apparently because of this familiarity, the Sion police were rather lenient towards him and did not apply IPC section 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder), which was applied in the Porsche case.

But what is equally shocking is that the hospital administration has not taken any action against Dr Dere. Former leader of the opposition in the BMC, Ravi Raja, who lives in Sion, told the FPJ on Tuesday that "by now Dr Dere ought to have been at least suspended pending investigation."

"If he is allowed to continue in office there is every chance of the evidence being tampered with. I have urged the BMC to come down heavily on him. It is absurd not to take action against him," he added. Shocked by the suspicious conduct of the hospital staff, the victim's son demanded that the post-mortem should be conducted at JJ Hospital and not at Sion.

When contacted by FPJ, Dr Mohan Joshi, dean of the hospital, said ``Some action is being planned. I am not authorised to speak on this issue." The municipal commissioner Bhushan Gagrani was unavailable for comment.