Police probe if Indian cancer patient was raped

Indian police were investigating if rape was behind a terminally ill cancer patient becoming pregnant during her stay at one of the country's top hospitals last year.

The 16-year-old girl, who suffers from bone and soft tissue tumour, lodged a rape complaint with police at the weekend after she was told by doctors that she was pregnant.

Police said the girl named two attendants at the Tata Memorial Hospital as responsible for raping her while she was in a semi-conscious state after surgery at the hospital in the western city of Mumbai in November last year.

"It's 100 per cent sure she is pregnant," Anil Nalawade, police assistant commissioner, said. The girl got pregnant about five months ago.

Hospital authorities said they were probing the allegations.

"We are not here to hide anybody. If the complaint is found to be right, we are going to take serious action," T. Ambumani, chief administrative officer for the hospital, said.