New Delhi: In a shocking and shameful incident, a mental health patient was raped up to 60 times by a care worker. Describing how she was preyed on, the victim has branded psychiatric hospitals a ‘playground for predators'.
The victim, in her 40s, was preyed on for a year by a senior member of staff and has called for better safeguards for patients in psychiatric hospitals.
The woman described how she was preyed on for a year by a senior staff member who would sneak into her room for sex and groom her with gifts such as Valium, cigarettes and chocolate.
Now the victim, who we are calling Catherine to protect her identify, has demanded better safeguards for patients.
Catherine, now in her 40s, estimates she was raped 60 times. She was paid £100,000 compensation for her ordeal in 2003 and 2004.
Incredibly, her attacker avoided jail after receiving a suspended sentence.
Catherine, who went in to care after she had a breakdown following a decade-long abusive relationship, was told by doctors that if she tried to leave Little Brook Hospital in Dartford, Kent, she would be sectioned.
She said the abuse became more regular until it was every night he worked – sometimes six times a week. The man told her he would report on her good behaviour.
She even got a sexually transmitted disease but the abuse was still missed by other staff members.
After being released in 2004, Catherine found the bravery to tell a nurse about her hell.
