After the shocking incident of Gujarat college students made to remove their underwear, in yet another bizarre case,  female trainee clerks of the Surat Municipal Corporation (SMC) were allegedly made to stand naked together in a room for a medical test at a civic body-run hospital here, prompting authorities to order a probe.

Surat Municipal Commissioner Banchhanidhi Pani today ordered a probe into allegations that around 10 female trainee clerks of the civic body were made to stand naked for a medical test in the gynaecology ward of the hospital.

The alleged incident took place in the Surat Municipal Institute of Medical Education and Research (SMIMER) hospital, run by the SMC, on February 20.

Pani on Friday formed a three -member committee to probe the allegations and submit a report in 15 days.

Earlier, last week,  girl students of Shree Sahajanand Girls Institute (SSGI) in Bhuj  were allegedly forced to strip to check if they were menstruating.

As many as 68 girl students were reportedly paraded through the college into the restroom and forced to individually remove their undergarments to prove that they were not menstruating.

‘The action was taken to uphold the college rule that bars students from the hostel when they have their period.’

In its complaint to the commissioner on Thursday, the SMC Employees Union alleged even unmarried women were checked for pregnancy by female doctors.

The committee comprises former dean of the medical college Dr Kalpana Desai, Assistant Municipal Commissioner Gayatri Jariwala and executive engineer Trupti Kalathia.

As per rules, all trainee employees need to undergo a physical test to prove their physical fitness for the job upon the completion of their training period, said officials.

Upon completion of their three years of training period, some female trainee clerks came to SMMER hospital for medical test, which is mandatory, they said.

According to the union, They are not against the mandatory test but the method adopted for women clerks used by  the gynecology ward was improper.

“Instead of calling the women one after another in the room for the test, lady doctors made them stand naked in group of 10. This act of compelling them to stand naked with others is highly deplorable.This method is illegal and against humanity. It is necessary that each woman is checked separately,” said the union in its complaint.

Ahmed Shaikh,  the general secretary of the union said that the women staffers were put in an embarrassing situation by lady doctors with their absurd questions about pregnancy during the test.

“Doctors should stop asking private questions about pregnancy. Moreover, even unmarried women in that group were subjected to a physical test meant for checking if they were pregnant or not.”

“They were put in an embarrassing situation in front of other women. Women’s respect must be maintained during medial tests,” said Shaikh.
Surat Mayor Jagdish Patel assured stern action against the culprits.

“This issue is very serious. Such physical tests are conducted on all those employees who are getting permanent after finishing their training period.
“We will take strict action against the culprits if the allegations levelled by the women staffers are found to be true,” said Patel.

The principal and three other people of the Gujarat college including the coordinator, supervisor and a woman peon of the Bhuj college where around 60 girl students were allegedly forced strip to check if they were menstruating, were sent to two-day police custody on February 17.

Apart from the principal the others remanded include the coordinator, supervisor and a woman peon of the college. The police arrested the four accused and produced them in a court on Monday. The police filed an FIR against them for the February 11 incident at Shree Sahajanand Girls Institute (SSGI) which caused public outrage.