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Male nurse who posed as doctor to molest patient jailed 7 months

(PHOTO: Getty Images)
(PHOTO: Getty Images)

A male nurse who impersonated a doctor to molest a patient was jailed seven months at the State Courts on Wednesday (4 July).

Muhammad Ruzaini Johari, 33, had earlier pleaded guilty to one charge of using criminal force to outrage the modesty of the victim, who cannot be named to protect her identity.

Ruzaini, then a staff nurse under Fullerton Health, was on duty at a Yishun clinic on 11 May last year when a patient, a 28-year-old woman, walked in with her husband at around 8.40pm. By that time, the clinic’s doctor had already left but the couple believed it was still open as the lights inside were switched on.

Ruzaini, who had stayed behind to complete some administrative duties, directed the woman into the consultation room. Believing that Ruzaini was a doctor, she followed his instructions.

While inside the room Ruzaini used a stethoscope to “inspect” the woman’s chest and back. He later asked the woman to lie face up on an examination bed. He then lifted her T-shirt, revealing her stomach – which he began to press as he moved downwards towards her groin area.

The woman felt embarrassed by Ruzaini’s actions but did not protest as she thought it was part of the medical examination.

Despite having no reason to, Ruzaini then decided to conduct an electrocardiogram (ECG) test on the woman. According to the prosecution, he was thrilled by the prospect of getting the woman to expose her breasts.

Ruzaini lifted the victim’s T-shirt and unclasped the woman’s bra and exposed her breasts. He then placed the ECG pads on the woman’s naked breasts, wrist and ankle.

At some point, the woman came to realise that Ruzaini’s actions were odd and felt very uncomfortable. She sat up, confronted Ruzaini and removed all the electrodes from her body before getting dressed.

The woman left the consultation room and told her husband about her experience, breaking into tears as she did. Ruzaini tried to placate the couple, but the woman’s husband called the police.

Investigations showed that Ruzaini was not a registered doctor and was not authorised to conduct medical examinations or ECG tests without a doctor’s supervision. He was also required to have a female chaperone present when conducting examinations that involve female patients exposing sensitive body parts.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Marshall Lim said that Ruzaini had abused the trust of the woman, who had believed he was a qualified doctor. He asked for at least nine months’ jail.

Lawyers Sunil Sudheesan and Diana Ngiam, who represented Ruzaini, sought around six months’ jail for him. In court documents, the lawyers said that their client’s encounter with the couple was hampered by a language gap.

Ruzaini had tried to tell the woman, who is from China, that the clinic was closed but the woman kept gesturing to her throat.

“(The woman) believed, at this point, that (Ruzaini) was a doctor but it is our submission that such a belief was borne out of a misunderstanding that was created by the language barrier between our client and (the woman)… Our client did not deceive (the woman) into thinking that he was a doctor,” said the defence lawyers.

District Judge Luke Tan said a sentence of seven months was “fair and proportionate” given that Ruzaini had abused the trust reposed in him. Since the time of the offence, Ruzaini has left the nursing industry and now works as a trainee deck cadet with a shipping company.

For outraging the modesty of the woman, Ruzaini could have been jailed two years, and/or fined, and/or caned.

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