In 2017, former RG Kar principal Sandip Ghosh was acquitted in the molestation case in Hong Kong, where he went for a two-month clinical exchange programme. This was later cancelled due to the alleged incident and subsequent trial
Seven years ago, former RG Kar hospital principal Dr Sandip Ghosh landed in deep trouble in Hong Kong over a misunderstanding with a male nursing student that led to sexual harassment charges against him.
In 2017, Ghosh was acquitted in the molestation case in the city that he was visiting for a two-month clinical exchange programme. But, this was cancelled in a few days due to the alleged incident and subsequent trial.
He is now in jail for alleged financial corruption when he was the principal of Kolkata’s RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, and has been linked to the rape-murder of a trainee doctor at the premier medical institution.
Ghosh, however, underwent trial and was acquitted in the case in Hong Kong. According to a report published by South China Morning Post, his name matches that of an “Indian orthopaedist who appeared in a Hong Kong court in 2017 over allegations he molested a male nursing student at Queen Elizabeth Hospital (Yau Ma Tei hospital)”.
SCMP quoted a medical sector source saying he only briefly worked at the Yau Ma Tei hospital. “Due to the lawsuit, the hospital stopped his posting and therefore he actually only worked there for a few days,” the source told the newspaper.
Both The Post and News18 could not immediately confirm if Ghosh is doctor involved in the indecent assault case. But, SCMP has detailed news reports about the trial from 2017.
The report said Ghosh was acquitted on one count of indecent assault. “He could not resume his position before the trial was over. After the trial was completed, the original period of time he was supposed to stay was also finished,” the source added.
The report further said the exchange programme was arranged by an international orthopaedic organisation to allow doctors from developing countries to learn in hospitals in more advanced economies, such as Hong Kong and Singapore.
‘Patted my buttock and tried to touch my private parts’
In 2017, during the trial, the male nursing student told the court that “the Indian doctor”, purportedly Ghosh, patted his buttocks two to three times and tried to touch his genitals while the two were in the changing room.
Ghosh, who has been named in the SCMP reports, said he only pulled on the student’s arm to help fix his dislocated shoulder. He testified that the whole incident was a misunderstanding as he had only touched the nurse’s hip by accident.
Back then, his lawyer had also suggested that the nurse had misunderstood Ghosh due to his strong accent, but the student had disagreed. Reports said the alleged assault took place on April 8, 2017, at Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Yau Ma Tei.
It was documented by the defence lawyers that Ghosh had suffered a shoulder dislocation in the weeks preceding the alleged incident and his medical history of the condition.
