Sex assault victim 'regularly' visited GP after surgery attack, court hears
A WOMAN claiming a GP repeatedly attacked her during appointments 'regularly' decided to return to see him at the surgery, jurors heard.
Prosecutors allege Dr Jaswant Rathore sexually attacked eight female patients while he was working at a Dudley medical practice.
One woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, confessed she returned to see the medic at the surgery despite being allegedly assaulted by him.
The alleged victim, who had been seeing Rathore since the age of 2, revealed therapy carried out by him helped ease her back and hip pain.
Defence barrister Mr Alan Jenkins put it to the woman she 'went back regularly' to see Rathore as the defendant helped to improve her medical problems.
During cross-examination, Mr Jenkins said: "The treatment he was giving you, it was working?”
The woman, who is in her twenties, replied: "It felt like it [the pain] was getting better."
Mr Jenkins continued: "What he was doing was easing your symptoms, it was working, and that's the reason you kept going back?"
The woman answered: "Yeah."
Rathore, of Ploughmans Walk, Wall Heath, denies 18 counts of sexual assault between November 28, 2008, and March 26, 2015.
The 60-year-old claims he was instead performing 'manual manipulation therapy' to alleviate body pain suffered by his patients.
Taking the stand on Tuesday, the woman confirmed Rathore referred her for a hospital scan after she first complained to him about her pain in 2014.
The defendant offered her the therapy in the run up to the scan, performing the 20-minute treatment in his room at the surgery, she said.
She told jurors she felt 'exposed' as Rathore assaulted her during the treatment and said he continued to attack her during follow-up appointments until May 2015.
Giving evidence behind screens, she said: "At the time, even though it felt wrong, I did think it was me - I was the person that was wrong in my head.
“Somebody trying to help me with my problem [and I was changing it] into something that maybe it just wasn’t. I felt it was me with the problem."
The woman went on to tell jurors she sometimes missed appointments with Rathore because she felt 'so uncomfortable'.
He would often call her if she failed to turn up at the surgery, asking if she was ok and urging her to book another session, the woman claimed.
She added: "I always wanted to see Dr Rathore because he was a good doctor. Everyone always thought he was a good doctor. My mum always told me to trust him."
The trial continues.
