BHATTI: FAMILY GP FACES JAIL FOR MOLESTING PATIENTS
A family GP who sexually assaulted four women while pretending to carry out medical examinations is facing jail today (Fri).
Dr Haleem Bhatti, 48, attacked his victims when they consulted him for rashes, chest pain and weight gain.
He questioned them about their sex lives and massaged their breasts and between their thighs.
Bhatti was found guilty of four counts of sexual assault on different women at Inner London Court.
The jury is still considering a further charge of assault by penetration but has been sent home for the weekend.
Bhatti was released on bail on the condition that he lives with his girlfriend in Colindale, north London, and put forward a £15,000 surety.
Sarah Jane Campbell, prosecuting, said Bhatti preyed on the women while working at Greengate Medical Centre in Plaistow, east London, between September 2006 and July 2009.
Bhatti had ‘abused his position as a GP’ to take advantage of the women ‘under the guise of performing medical examinations’, said Ms Campbell.
The doctor left them feeling ‘very uncomfortable, upset and stupid’ for not stopping him as soon as they suspected he was acting inappropriately, the court heard.
‘He was acting opportunistically,’ said Ms Campbell.
‘There were examinations of the breast or touching of the vagina, in circumstances where there could have been no medical justification for Dr Bhatti to do so.
‘On none of the occasions did he ask the women if they wished to have a chaperone.
‘Invariably he did not wear gloves when touching their vaginas, which is against the guidance of the General Medical Council.’
Bhatti’s first victim in September 2006 was so stunned that she pushed his hand away, the jury has heard.
The prosecutor said: ‘She started to get uncomfortable because she could not understand why he was examining her breast as she was not having trouble in that location.
‘His other hand had moved down towards her pelvic area and his fingers were trying to part her vaginal lips.
‘Her hand shot down and stopped him touching her.’
The woman complained to her mother after leaving the surgery, who made a complaint to another GP there.
But ‘nothing formal’ resulted from the complaint and Bhatti was free to strike again.
The doctor was found guilty of the first sexual assault, but cleared of another two charges in 2008, both of which involved the same woman.
Another woman reported Bhatti examining her breasts when she complained of a rash on her belly, arms and legs.
She was ‘very upset’, but did not make an official until she told a receptionist months later that she was uncomfortable about her niece seeing him and why.
A third woman complained to another GP at the practice in late 2009, after Bhatti allegedly gave her a similar examination and also of her abdomen.
Jurors heard he also commented on some concealed African beads she wore around her waist during an appointment in May of that year, asking her ‘if they were for sexual attraction’.
In July 2009 Bhatti allegedly asked a sixth patient with a urine infection to undo her jeans and lie back.
She mentioned her chest sometimes felt tight and he went on to show her ‘how to self-examine’ her breasts, jurors heard.
After speaking to members of her family about the incident she phoned the practice nurse the next day and filed a formal complaint.
During police interview Bhatti gave detailed denials and suggested the mother of one complainant was upset that he had not referred her to a specialist.
Bhatti, of (4) Terrace Road, Plaistow, east London, denied six counts of sexual assault and one charge of assault by penetration between September 27 2006 and July 1 2009.
He was found guilty of four sexual assaults, all on different women, between September 2006 and July 2009, in which he touched their breasts and genitals.
The GP was cleared of two charges of touching another woman’s breasts and public hair.
The jury is still considering the final charge of assault by penetration, which allegedly took place in September 2009.
The trial continues.
ends
