Chennai, July 5 (BPNS)

A Sanitary worker Pazhani was arrested by the Chennai police after a woman patient lodged a complaint that he had sexually assaulted her. The incident happened on Thursday, June 30, at the Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital, Chennai.

The 49-year-old woman was recovering after surgery from a kidney ailment at the hospital and she was in her room along with her 11-year-old daughter. Pazhani, according to Greater Chennai Police, is permanently employed with the state public health department as a sanitary worker. He entered the room on Thursday morning under the guise of cleaning the room and sexually assaulted the woman, police said.

He then fled from the scene.

The woman then informed the duty nurses who lodged a police complaint and the police commenced an investigation after lodging an FIR against Pazhani.

The police traced him to his residence at Triplicane on Monday and arrested him. He was charged under Sections 354 of the IPC for outraging a woman’s modesty and also relevant sections of the Tamil Nadu Prohibition of Harassment of Woman Act,1998. He was remanded to judicial custody on Monday evening.

Police said that Pazhani was tracing the woman for several days and found that other than the 11-year-old daughter, no other relatives were there with her.