ICU sexual assault case: survivor to protest before Health Minister’s residence

The survivor in the 2023 ICU sexual assault case at the Government Medical College Hospital (MCH), Kozhikode, plans to stage a protest in front of the Health Minister’s residence in Thiruvananthapuram, objecting to the reappointment of five hospital staff members who were suspended and later transferred after she complained that they had threatened her.

They were transferred back to Kozhikode after approaching the Kerala Administrative Tribunal and securing a favourable order recently. She said the date and form of the protest were yet to be decided.

The survivor, accompanied by human rights activist Noushad Thekkayil, met Government Medical College Principal Dr. K.G. Sajeeth Kumar on Thursday (September 18, 2025), seeking a copy of the report he had submitted to the tribunal that enabled the favourable order for the hospital staff. They were told to file a formal Right to Information request for the document, after which they staged a sit-in outside the Principal’s office. The two were later taken into preventive custody.

“I have a right to seek the report, as they were transferred based on my complaint. It has not even been the mandatory three years. This would not have happened if the Principal and the Director of Medical Education had not submitted a report favourable to them at the tribunal,” the survivor told The Hindu.

She pointed out that the government, despite claiming to stand with survivors, sides with the culprits, citing several cases at the medical college where survivors had to fight tooth and nail for justice.

Mr. Thekkayil said the five staff members could not have been transferred back to Kozhikode without creating vacancies by blocking the promotion of three others. “An investigation approved by Inspector General of Police K. Sethuraman clearly incriminated these five employees. The complaint filed by the survivor is still pending in court. Yet the government is favouring the culprits,” he alleged.

The incident in the case occurred on March 18, 2023, when M.M. Saseendran, an attendant at the hospital, allegedly sexually assaulted the survivor while she was still under anaesthesia following a thyroid surgery in the intensive care unit. He was dismissed from service after an internal inquiry in August. Five of his female colleagues, including a nursing assistant, were transferred to other medical college hospitals after being accused of threatening the survivor and attempting to persuade her to change her statement against Saseendran.