Lifer of doctor suspended in rape case

Mumbai: The Supreme Court admitted for hearing an appeal filed by Dr Vishal Wanne and suspended his sentence, of life imprisonment, pending hearing on his appeal. Dr Wanne was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment for raping a patient in a hospital’s intensive care unit (ICU) in neighbouring Thane.

“Considering the medical evidence and also the period of custody which the petitioner has already undergone, the sentence of imprisonment imposed on the petitioner is suspended and the petitioner is ordered to be released subject to the petitioner’s executing the bond to the satisfaction of the committal court,” observed the division bench of Justice R. Banumathi and Justices Indira Banerjee.

The bench passed this order while hearing an appeal filed by Dr Wanne challenging high court order convicting and sentencing him to life imprisonment.

The prosecution case is that on October 16, 2010, he along with his wife, the victim, his two sons and his sister-in-law, had visited Durga Mata Puja where his wife suffered low blood pressure following which she was admitted to Lotus Hospital in Vashi.

On the date of incident Dr Wanne was the Resident Medical Officer (RMO) at the hospital. The condition of the victim deteriorated and therefore the accused doctor shifted her to ICU. Later during the night the husband of the victim visited the ICU twice but noticed that the door was closed from inside and curtains had been drawn from inside so he went back to the bed allotted to him at general ward.

In the morning when he went to see his wife she asked him why he had not come to the ICU to see her and she also pointed her finger towards Dr Wanne alleging that he raped her whole night.

Following this a complaint was lodged with Vashi police which arrested him and later a court in Thane convicted him in January 2013 and later the Bombay high court upheld his conviction the same year in September.