Confidentiality about the Gang-Rape Victim’s Name

The recent Delhi gang-rape case opened a Pandora box of discussions regarding whether or not the names of the sexually assaulted victim be made open to the public. While the law is very clear that the name of the sexually assaulted victim cannot be disclosed to the society but the law is silent about the accused who committed the crime. In my opinion, names of the persons alleged to have committed the crime should also be kept under secrecy till they proved to be guilty or convicted.

Imagine a situation, a person charge-sheeted for a sexual assault four years after the trial is not found guilty. Has the system not raped his mind and the soul all these four years? (this statement does not apply to the present case)

The confidentiality law is also well described in the Vedic literature and it is unethical under the Code of Ethics, Medical Council of India to declare the identity of a person whom you are treating.

I recall a person whose appointment was through a common friend got offended when I told our common friend that ‘he’ was suffering from high blood pressure. The person told me that I had no business to disclose about his illness to the common friend.

In a hospital setting, it is common outside ICU to see the healthcare workers coming out and shouting – “Seeta ke saath kaun hai?”  It is unethical and illegal. At the time of admission, the hospital is supposed to write down on the case file as to who will be taking the briefing about the patients and instead of calling the name of the patient, the name of the person whose name is there in the file for briefing should be called so that the identity of the patient is not disclosed.

The practice of putting the OT list with names at multiple locations in the hospital is also not permissible in the law because that will disclose the name of the patient and the type of surgery being done.

Dr K K Aggarwal is Padmashri and Dr B C Roy National Awardee, President Heart Care Foundation of India and National Vice President Elect IMA [ blog.kkaggarwal.com]