Sexual assault of village nurse alleged

Members of Tamil Nadu Village Nurses Association at the Ramanathapuram Collectorate on Tuesday.

Village nurses, who are members of the Tamil Nadu Village Nurses’ Association, thronged the Collectorate here on Tuesday and complained that a village nurse posted in Thiruvadanai block was sexually assaulted by a local man.

In a petition presented to Collector K. Veera Raghava Rao, the nurses said their colleague posted at the local Primary Health Centre (PHC) was on duty on the night of September 12 when a man, identified as K. Prasanth, visited the centre and sexually assaulted her.

After visiting the PHC at 11.15 p.m. on the pretext of seeking medical assistance, the man attempted to sexually assault her. After she raised an alarm, he ran away, the nurses said in the petition and demanded the immediate arrest of the accused. The nurse, who was injured in the incident, was admitted to the Government district headquarters hospital here, they said. She was staying in the quarters, near the PHC with her children, they added.

Stating that the incident has sent shock waves among village nurses across the country, the nurses said they felt very insecure after the incident. It was unfortunate that village nurses who stayed in villages to serve the people faced such attacks, they regretted.

Most of the quarters for village nurses in the State were in a bad and unsafe condition, they said and urged the authorities to provide safe and conducive atmosphere for them to serve in villages.