In an awful incident, an Indian-origin family doctor from southeast England has been found guilty of sexually assaulting three women who were under his care, one of whom was battling cancer.
The doctor identified as Mohan Babu, 47, a former general practitioner at Staunton Surgery in Havant, Hampshire. Recently, he was convicted of four counts of sexual assault following a three-week trial in Portsmouth Crown Court.
On April 12, Mohan Babu was released on conditional bail and will be sentenced at the same court. The News, a Portsmouth-based daily, reported
The court heard that the sexual assaults occurred between September 2019 and July 2021, and the youngest victim was a 19-year-old woman.
All three women were harassed within the Staunton Surgery premises, where Mohan Babu worked along with his wife. She is also a general practitioner at the same clinic.
Numerous complaints were received against Babu, and he was repeatedly warned over his conduct, which involved inappropriately touching victims and making creepy comments, the jurors told the court.
The Crown Court heard five other women, including a receptionist, at his previous workplace. The women complained about his overly familiar behavior. However, criminal proceedings were not brought about by their complaints.
Prosecutor Miranda Moore KC told the court Mohan Babu targeted vulnerable women after he joined the surgery as a locum doctor in April 2018. A locum doctor is one who covers for another doctor on leave.
The first complaint about Mohan’s behavior was reported in August 2019, exactly 16 months after his joining, which was on his wife’s recommendation.
Miranda Moore informed the court that between May and August 2019, Mohan Babu held face-to-face consultations with a 57-year-old woman. She was diagnosed with terminal pancreatic cancer in June 2019 and is now deceased.
Referring to the woman’s case, Moore told the court how Babu exploited his profession to conduct unnecessary and invasive examinations, making lewd comments and physically assaulting patients.
A patient who got treatment for knee and hip problems said that Babu hugged her and requested her phone number.
An investigation followed, and it revealed that many other women complained about Mohan Babu and asked for a new general practitioner to replace him.
Subsequently, he stopped working at Staunton Surgery in July 2021 and denied all seven counts made against him.
He was found not guilty of the three offenses of sexual assault against a further two women.
(Input from various sources)
(Rehash/Komal Bhoi/MSM)
