Over 100 Female Clerks Made To Strip In Gujarat Government Hospital For Mandatory Fitness Test

Sanika Athavale

February 21, 2020

On Thursday, nearly a week after the Bhuj incident where 68 girl students were forced to remove their undergarments to prove they were not menstruating, a second shocking incident has come to light from a state-run hospital in Surat where nearly 100 women trainee clerks of the Surat Municipal Corporation (SMC) were made to stand without clothes for a prolonged duration, while the medics conducted the gynaecological finger test.

Reportedly, the affected women arrived at the Surat Municipal Institute of Medical Education and Research for a mandatory fitness test.

In a rude shock to the women trainees, they were compelled to stand naked in groups of 10 members in a room where their privacy was outrageously breached. Even the door of the room was not shut properly and the only thing that prevented the inside view was a curtain.

According to the Times of India, the doctors, apart from performing the controversial finger test, allegedly asked personal questions to the women trainee clerks.

The unmarried women were questioned if they had ever got pregnant. Some of the victims even claimed that the medics behaved in a rude manner.

A few woman trainees approached the SMC Employees Union (SMCEU) after they were subject to the traumatic finger test.

SMCEU has lodged a complaint with the municipal commissioners. General Secretary of the Employees Union, AA Shaikh, demanded the authorities to ban such inhuman and insulting medical tests. While speaking to the Times of India, Shaikh lashed out at the doctors and said that if they doubted employees’ health then they should have examined them in an acceptable way.

However, Ashwin Vachhani, SMIMER’s gynaecology department’s head claimed that it is mandatory for them to conduct a physical examination on the women as per the guidelines. She asserted that she does not know if such tests are conducted on men but for females, there are rules to figure out specific illness and therefore physical examination is done.

Also Read: Gujarat College Forces 68 Girls To Remove Underwear, Prove They Are Not Menstruating

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