PRESS STATEMENT: FIDA-Kenya Condemns Rape of a Female Dialysis Patient by Doctor at Pandya Memorial Hospital, Mombasa

Mombasa, 3rd February 2025 – We, the Federation of Women Lawyers in Kenya (FIDA-Kenya), strongly condemn the heinous sexual assault of a female dialysis patient by a renal doctor at Pandya Memorial Hospital in Mombasa. According to the survivor’s statement to the police, which the hospital has not denied, the doctor took advantage of the early morning dialysis sessions to sexually harass the survivor through unconsented sexual conversation, groping, and finally raping over a period despite the survivor reporting the doctor to the management. The inhuman acts happened from late 2024 to this year. This egregious act violates medical ethics, criminal law, and the fundamental rights of patients to safety and dignity.

FIDA-Kenya is disturbed that senior Pandya Memorial Hospital staff repeatedly ignored the survivor’s reports of the doctor’s conduct. Their failure to intervene not only enabled the crime to continue but also showed the hospital’s systemic failure to protect patients from sexual violence. They aided this crime through their indifference and inaction.

The sexual assault of a dialysis patient while undergoing the actual dialysis process warrants the maximum penalty under the following laws:

• 1. Section 3 of the Sexual Offences Act of 2006 on rape which carries a minimum sentence of ten years, extendable to life imprisonment.
• 2. Cap 63, the Penal Code which allows the hospital management to be charged with neglect of duty and complicity in the crime.
• 3. The Health Act of 2017 and Cap. 253, the Medical Practitioners and Dentists Act which allows regulatory action and revocation of licenses of health facilities that fail to ensure patient safety.
• 4. Cap. 257, the Nurses Act which provides disciplinary measures against the nurses for professional misconduct.

FIDA-Kenya demands as follows:

• 1. The Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) and the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) in Mombasa must immediately arrest and charge the accused doctor. The DCI and ODPP must also investigate and charge the specific staff members who knew about the sexual assault and took no action. FIDA-Kenya will actively monitor this case and protect the survivor to ensure that she gets justice.
• 2. The Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentists Council (KMPDC) and the Nursing Council of Kenya (NCK) must suspend the licenses of all those involved until complete investigations are concluded. If found guilty, we demand that KMPDC and NCK respectively deregister the doctor and the nurses involved.

In addition, FIDA-Kenya will file a civil lawsuit against Pandya Memorial Hospital Mombasa and seek compensation for the survivor for gross negligence and failure to protect her. Within the next five days, FIDA-Kenya will write to the Health Department in Mombasa, KMPDC, NCK, and the Ministry of Health with specific practice and policy demands to proactively protect all patients from different forms of abuse.

FIDA-Kenya abhors all forms of gender-based violence and will always stand for the victims of such acts. We will hold every institution, including health facilities, accountable for any gender-based violence that occurs within their jurisdictions. What happened at Pandya Memorial Hospital must never happen. We remain committed to pursuing justice for the survivor, holding all responsible parties accountable, and advocating for stronger safeguards to prevent such egregious violations in the future.

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Read by: Advocate Jane Onyango – FIDA-Kenya Coast Representative

On behalf of: Christine Kungu – FIDA-Kenya Board Chairperson

For more information or media inquiries, please contact Mark Owuor via owuorm@fidakenya.org

About FIDA-Kenya: FIDA-Kenya is a premier women’s rights organization in Kenya that has offered free legal aid to over 3,000,000 women for the last 40 years. We are committed to creating a society that respects and upholds women’s rights with a mission to promote women’s individual and collective power to claim their rights in all spheres of life. FIDA-Kenya is a membership organization with over 1,500 women advocates and lawyers in Kenya.