SMIMER suspends resident doctor for assaulting Thai woman in hostel

Surat: Surat Municipal Institute of Medical Education and Research (SMIMER) suspended its third-year resident doctor, Rutvik Darji, on Wednesday for allegedly assaulting a Thai woman in the institute’s boys’ hostel. The suspension follows a preliminary probe by a five-member committee.

Darji is suspended from all activities at SMIMER, including hostel, hospital duties, and studies. He has been issued a show cause notice and must respond to the charges outlined by the inquiry committee. As a resident doctor in the orthopaedic department, Darji was found responsible for bringing the foreign woman into the hostel and assaulting her. He will remain suspended pending an inquiry by the institute’s dean, Dr. Deepak Hovale.

Details of the incident reveal that on June 8, Darji brought a Thai woman into the boys’ hostel. Eyewitnesses reported seeing the woman emerge from Darji’s room semi-nude, shouting “danger.” Darji, partially clothed, was seen chasing her for about 300 meters until she entered the police chowki on the SMIMER campus. There, she informed the police that Darji had attacked and slapped her multiple times. Despite police requests, she refused to lodge an FIR. The police then informed SMIMER authorities.

It is also learned that Darji was previously suspended for six months in August 2023 for allegedly attacking a junior doctor. DeshGujarat