Orissa police files chargesheet against Australian doctor

Orissa police files chargesheet against Australian doctor

PURI(VISAKEO): Orissa police has filed a charge-sheet against the 65-year-old Australian doctor who was arrested for alleged sexual assault on some boy inmates of an orphanage here.

The eye surgeon, Alan Herbert Rose alias Paul Allen, was arrested on November 12 on charges of paedophilia. Mary Ellen Gerber, the French founder of the orphanage, helped police arrest the doctor by filing a complaint against him.

"We submitted a charge-sheet against Rose before Puri sub divisional judicial magistrate on January 10 ," inspector-in-charge (Puri Sadar police station) Debi Prasad Dash said. The police action has set the stage for the beginning of the trial into the sensational case.

Dash said the doctor has been charged under various sections including sexually assaulting a minor, criminal intimidation and violating the Foreigners' Act.

The arrest had been followed with a startling survey by some NGOs that claimed paedophilia in Puri was highest in comparison with other sacred destinations in the country.

The Australian doctor, who is in Puri district jail, has approached the Orissa High Court for bail, sources said. "We will appeal to the court not to grant him bail until the trial is over. We have gathered all evidence against the Australian doctor to substantiate the sexual harassment charge against him. Even the foreigner did not furnish his personal details despite a directive by the Australian High Commission," the inspector said. "If convicted, the Australian National may face imprisonment for life or imprisonment for 10 years and fine," the cop added.

This was the third such incident, which surfaced in Puri in the last 10 years. The other two paedophilia cases had occurred in 1999 and 2000. In both the cases, the accused (both British citizens) had got clean chits by courts here.