Andhra Medical College associate professor suspended over sexual, verbal and mental harassment allegations

Vijayawada: The director of medical education (DME) on Wednesday issued orders suspending Dr Konkena Janardhana Rao, associate professor of general surgery in Andhra Medical College (AMC) in Visakhapatnam, with immediate effect. The move follows an internal probe following allegations of misconduct by postgraduate medical students.DME Dr Vishnu Vardhan said the PG students had lodged a complaint through email to the medical college principal on June 14. “The students complained about sexual, mental and verbal harassment, and unprofessional conduct by Dr Janardhana Rao in the department. On learning about the complaint, the college principal was immediately directed to probe the allegations and a detailed enquiry was conducted on June 15 and 16 by the internal complaints committee (ICC) of the college,” the DME said.He said the suspension order was issued after the committee submitted its report. He also said that Dr Janardhana Rao is among the best general surgeons working in teaching hospitals in the state.Meanwhile, AMC principal, Dr KVSM Sandhya Devi, in her report submitted to the DME concluded that “the allegations mentioned by students against Dr Janardhana Rao are true and need to be addressed”, while recommending “necessary disciplinary action” against him.

In the committee report, the college principal also recommended surrendering Dr Janardhana Rao from AMC to DME with immediate effect to safeguard the safety and respect of female post graduate students of the department of general surgery in the college.“For two days, the ICC members interacted with all general surgery PG students one-on-one, scrutinised the written statements, and thoroughly probed on all four aspects mentioned in the complaint,” Dr Sandhya Devi told TOI. The general surgery department in AMC has an intake of 26 students per year.