Healthcare assistant charged over rape of woman in hospital bed
A 29-year-old healthcare assistant has been charged with raping a patient in her hospital bed in the middle of the night
By Wesley Johnson, Home Affairs Correspondent
13 Jan 2013
Sajin Kunjappu Panikkassery was arrested on Thursday after the patient, a woman in her 20s, told staff at St Richard’s Hospital in Chichester, West Sussex, that she had been raped while in bed the previous night.
Panikkassery, of Langton Road, Chichester, has been charged with four counts of sexual assault and one count of rape and will appear at Worthing Magistrates’ Court on Monday, Sussex Police said.
A force spokesman said: “Sajin Kunjappu Panikkassery, 29, of Langton Road, Chichester, has been charged with four counts of sexual assault and one count of rape of a woman patient at St Richard’s Hospital, Chichester, on 10 January.
“Panikkassery, a healthcare assistant at the hospital, has been charged and kept in police custody to appear before Worthing Magistrates Court on 14 January.
“The victim, a woman in her 20s, is receiving help and support and is no longer at the hospital.
“Police are receiving full co-operation from Western Sussex Hospitals NHS Trust.”
Earlier, detectives said they received a report from the hospital at 1:45pm on Thursday that a female patient in her 20s had made an allegation to hospital staff of rape by a male healthcare worker at the hospital.
A spokesman for West Sussex Hospitals NHS Trust, which runs St Richard’s, said it was “cooperating fully with the police enquiry” but was unable to make any further comment while the investigation was ongoing.
Telegraph
