The NHRC on December 27 issued a notice to the Maharashtra government over the alleged molestation of a 14-year-old seizure patient by a sanitation staff inside the ICU ward of a municipal hospital in Thane.

The National Human Rights Commission has send the notice to the chief secretary and asked as to whether such incidents have occurred in the past in other government hospitals. It has also asked what steps have been taken by authorities to ensure the safety and security of in-patients at government-run hospitals.

"The commission has taken suo motu cognisance of media reports that a 39-year-old sweeper tied the hand of a 14-year-old seizure patient to the bed and molested her inside the ICU of Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC)-run Kalwa hospital. He was subsequently arrested," the NHRC said in a statement.

The cleaner allegedly molested the teenage patient after tying her hand to the bed at the civic-run hospital, police said. The minor girl was admitted to the hospital on December 19 as she was suffering seizures. During treatment, one of her hands was tied to the bed to administer saline, they said.