The Indian Express            03.12.2013

BMC plans centres to help sexual assault victims in 3 hospitals

In a bid to provide post-trauma care to victims of sexual assault and to help them in reporting the crime as well as preserving evidence, the BMC will start three new centres in its major hospitals — KEM, Sion and Nair.

These centres are likely to start from January 1.

"We have often seen victims having to go from one department to another to comply with the required formalities. Now all that will be taken care of," Dr Suhasini Nagda, director of secondary healthcare services in the BMC, said.

The initiative is a joint partnership between NGO Raahat and the BMC.

According to Nagda, a victim of sexual assault can visit any of these centres where a co-ordinator will not only counsel her, but will also assist her in lodging a police complaint, in medical examination and collection of forensic reports and evidence like nails and clothes.

While the initiative will be started in the three tertiary hospitals, peripheral hospitals will also get such centres later.

According to Sion hospital's dean Dr Avinash Supe, Dr R N Cooper and Rajawadi hospitals will also get such centres.