Alleged Rape: None Of Our Staff Asked Woman To Drop Charges Against Dispatch Rider - LUTH

The management of the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH) has reacted to a viral claim of a Twitter user, Temitope Bukola, who alleged that staff of the hospital had refused to treat her 18-year-old salesgirl, who was raped on Thursday, June 3 by a dispatch rider.

It was reported on June 3, 2020, that Bukola had shared a story of an 18-year-old salesgirl who was raped by a dispatch rider after which he threw N1000  to her to sort herself.

She said that the driver has, however, absconded as all effort to get justice proves abortive.

She alleged that the victim was refused treatment at LUTH, saying that they should drop charges against the dispatch rider.

READ ALSO: Lady Cries For Justice For Her Staff Who Was Raped By A Dispatch Rider

Reacting to the claim, the hospital management in a statement posted on its twitter handle said the hospital did not ask the woman to drop charges against the suspected dispatch rider before the victim will be treated.

The hospital tweeted: 

"CORRECTING THE NARRATIVE: 18-YEAR-OLD LADY ALLEGEDLY RAPED AND BROUGHT BY HER BOSS TO LUTH

“LUTH management’s attention has been brought to a piece of news on twitter about an 18-year-old girl who was brought to LUTH by her boss on account of being raped. Our record shows that on 4th June 2020 at about 6 pm, a middle-aged woman came to the Accident and Emergency (A\E) that her sales girl was reportedly raped by a dispatch rider who had come to deliver items to her shop. She said that she came to LUTH emergency so that post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP)could be administered to the young lady. 

"At this point, the alleged victim was still in the car. The medical officer in charge of the Triage unit of the A/E unit then proceeded to discuss the case with the Senior Registrar on duty in Obstetrics and Gynaecology (O&G) section in the presence of the woman. She was informed that the PEP will be administered to the victim once she was formally registered in the hospital, while the legal aspect will be handled through an established legal process in Lagos State.

"The woman responded that the case was already reported to the police and that what they needed was treatment i.e PEP. 

"At this point, a slip for registration was written for this woman. She then enquired if registration was free and she was informed that a fee was to be paid at the cash point. She also wanted to know if the PEP was free and was told that the pharmacy will give the information regarding the drugs and any cost attached once the lady is registered. She accepted the slip and then left the O&G consulting room, while the doctors returned to their duties.

"It was, however, observed later that the woman did not proceed to register the rape survivor but had actually left with her without informing the doctor.

"The above detail describes what transpired between our staff and the woman.

"The victim remained inside the car throughout the encounter with the woman and none of our staff saw the victim before they both disappeared.

"At no point did any of our staff approach the woman to drop charges against the alleged rapist.

"LUTH as a hospital has a well-documented policy on the handling and supporting cases of rape, and we have handled many such cases in the past. We as an organization stand against any form of interpersonal violence and sexual assault and commit to deploying all our skills to all patients we care for including rape survivors.

CMAC

For LUTH Management.

CORRECTING THE NARRATIVE : 18 YEAR OLD LADY ALLEGEDLY RAPED AND BROUGHT BY HER BOSS TO LUTH https://t.co/lWbWwjUWFW pic.twitter.com/a0PYgLOnlt

— LUTH (@LUTHofficial) June 6, 2020