10 women accuse doctor of abuse
Ten women, with different symptoms but very similar stories, have accused a busy Bunbury GP of sexually abusing them under the guise of medical treatment.
Without gloves, or explanation, Ranjit Kumar Panda allegedly groped, fondled, jiggled, stroked and pinched the breasts and genitals of all the women, the youngest just 17.
Their ailments ranged from tonsillitis to a sore knee, eczema and urinary tract infections.
They allege that Dr Panda used his position as their practitioner to abuse their bodies and their trust over eight months in 2012.
"These were sexual assaults wrapped up as appropriate medical examinations," prosecutor Linda Keane told the District Court yesterday.
Dr Panda denies 25 charges of indecent assault and sexual penetration without consent.
His lawyer Simon Watters said Dr Panda would have seen 10,000 patients - including police officers and lawyers - in that time.
The alleged assaults began in January 2012 when an eight-months pregnant, first-time mother accused Dr Panda of touching the top of her vagina while supposedly checking the health of her baby.
She told the court that when Dr Panda returned to his desk after the exam, he repeatedly sniffed the hand he had used to touch her.
A second patient told the court Dr Panda assaulted her after she sought treatment for tonsillitis, but he insisted on checking her skin.
That escalated into him exposing and groping her breasts, removing her underwear, grabbing her genitals, then fondling her buttocks.
"I thought he was looking for skin cancers so I went along with it," she tearfully told the jury.
Ms Keane said other accusations would include how Dr Panda had whispered to himself while he rubbed the nipples of a teenager as her mother sat nearby.
Another patient will allege her breasts were groped as she held her three-month-old son, and another will say Dr Panda rubbed his genitals on her knee as he examined her.
Another will say she was told she would get her prescription for OxyContin only if she went along with a Pap smear - which was followed by kissing and fond-ling of her breasts.
'These were sexual assaults wrapped up as appropriate medical examinations.'"
Linda Keane * Prosecutor
