Therapist Allegedly Rapes Disabled Teen In His Clinic For Over A Year

A 40-year-old doctor in the Indian state of Maharashtra was arrested last Thursday after he was accused of raping a physically challenged teenage patient in his clinic for over a year, police said.

The unnamed physiotherapist allegedly sexually assaulted the girl, who had a speech impairment, among other physical disabilities, in his clinic in Santacruz, Mumbai, newspaper The Times of India reported, citing a police official.

Authorities learned of the allegation after the girl's parents filed a police complaint Thursday — two days after the girl revealed the incidents to her father and mother via a text message, according to the outlet.

A probe into the case revealed the doctor raped the girl whenever she visited his clinic, the police official said. The victim's parents were unaware of the abuse because they always sat outside the physiotherapist's cabin during the visits, the official added.

The doctor has been accused of committing similar offenses to other children as well.

Authorities have registered a case under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, including 376 (rape), as well as provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offenses Act against the doctor, the official said.

The physiotherapist was later presented before a local court. He was then remanded to police custody for seven days.

A similar arrest was made on a former Arizona nurse back in 2019 after the medical worker raped and impregnated an incapacitated woman at a long-term care facility he worked at.

Nathan Sutherland pleaded guilty in September to sexually assaulting an unnamed female patient about three years ago at Hacienda HealthCare in Phoenix, which is where the victim gave birth.

Sutherland also entered a guilty plea to an abuse of a vulnerable adult charge stemming from his treatment of the woman.

Authorities were able to tie Sutherland to the victim's pregnancy after police acquired DNA evidence from male employees who had direct access to the woman and his sample matched one that was taken from the woman's son.

Sutherland faces between 5 to 10 years in prison for the sexual assault charge, prosecutors said. The vulnerable adult charge, meanwhile, could net the former nurse a lifetime of probation.