Woman Allegedly Gang-Raped By Doctors, Hospital Staff While Undergoing Treatment; Dies Days Later

Staff at a hospital in India's Uttar Pradesh state have been accused of raping a female patient while she was undergoing treatment, the woman's family alleged.

The daughter of the unnamed 40-year-old woman told Union Minister Smriti Irani, who represents the constituency in the Indian Parliament's lower house, that her mother had told her she allegedly was "gang-raped" and "assaulted" by doctors and other medical staff at Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital in the state's capital city of Lucknow, Indian newspaper Deccan Herald first reported.

"I was not allowed to meet my mother by the staff... after much persuasion, I met her a few days later and found her in a critical condition... she told me then that she had been gang-raped and beaten by the staff," the daughter — who, like the alleged victim, was not named — was quoted by the outlet as saying.

The alleged victim, a resident of Uttar Pradesh's Amethi district, died late Saturday while being transferred to another hospital in Lucknow. The cause of death and the illness she was getting treatment for were not mentioned.

Despite still being unconscious, her mother was discharged Friday without being given any reason, the daughter alleged.

According to the daughter, her mother had been admitted to Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia Institute of Medical Sciences on June 7 after being referred from the district hospital in Amethi.

Officials said that a committee has been formed to investigate the allegations, as per the Deccan Herald report.

The management over at Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital refuted the allegations, saying that no such complaint was lodged by the alleged victim's daughter.

The incident came almost two weeks after the family of an unnamed 20-year-old woman accused four doctors at a hospital in the nearby city of Prayagraj of raping the woman while she was undergoing surgery.

According to the alleged victim's brother, the woman was admitted to Swaroop Rani Nehru Hospital on May 29 due to intestinal complications and underwent surgery two days later.

"After coming out of the operation theater, my sister was not in a condition to speak. She asked me to look for a pen and paper to write something. When I gave them to her, she indicated that something wrong had been done with her by four doctors. With a gesture of hand, she said that she was raped. I circulated her letter and sought public help to get a case registered," the brother alleged.

The woman died last Tuesday while undergoing treatment. Her body was handed over to her family after an autopsy was conducted.

A first information report was registered against the four unidentified doctors on the same day, but police have made no arrests in connection to the incident. Authorities said a thorough investigation would be done and that all allegations would be looked into.

Hospital officials denied the allegations and said nothing came out in their inquiry into the incident.