By IANS,
London : An Indian-origin family doctor who smacked female patients and rubbed himself against the arm of a young woman has been fined and told to do unpaid community work by a judge who said he was guilty of the “lowest rung of sexual offences”.
Rajinder Aggarwal, a 54-year-old married father of two, was spared jail but fined 3,000 pounds and ordered to carry out 80 hours of unpaid community work by Judge Christopher Mitchell.
Mitchell said the doctor, accused of charges of two sexual assault, faced the “overwhelming likelihood” of being struck off by the General Medical Council, the body that regulates doctors and ensures good medical practice in Britain.
“As far as their complaints were concerned, you acted perfectly properly in the way that you treated them but what you did, which was decidedly odd and immediately frightening for each of these women, was that you suddenly smacked their behinds,” said Mitchell.
The judge said this was a very severe punishment for a man in his position, adding: “For that reason…I have decided that the most appropriate punishment is a community order.”
Aggarwal, who came to Britain in 1998, was initially accused of attacking four women while working as a locum in hospitals between December 2006 and January 2007, but cleared of two charges.
He was also cleared of charges that he grilled other women about their sex lives.
One of his victims, a 27-year-old student from Sweden, said he had slapped her bottom and pressed his erection against her during an examination after she complained of a chest infection and fever.
He was suspended by the GMC April 2007 and arrested March last year.
Aggarwal’s lawyer told the court his 23-year marriage had been put under considerable strain by his actions, and that he had fallen into debt after being suspended from work, which meant he was no longer able to help his two “high achieving” daughters through university.
“It is the end of the road for Dr Aggarwal,” she added.