Doctors won’t face disciplinary hearing over sex assault allegation

TORONTO — Two Toronto-area doctors who were acquitted in court of sexually assaulting a medical student will not face their professional regulatory body over the case.

Dr. Amitabh Chauhan and Dr. Suganthan Kayilasanathan were due to face a disciplinary hearing Monday before a panel with the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario.

But the hearing was adjourned as it was about to get underway after a lawyer with the college indicated the alleged victim would not be testifying before the panel.

The woman, referred to as Ms. X, had previously spoken at both the preliminary hearing and the criminal trial for the two doctors, who were accused of drugging and raping the woman in a hotel room after a night of partying.

A judge acquitted the pair, saying there was reasonable doubt as to whether the sexual encounters were non-consensual.

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College lawyer Carolyn Silver told the disciplinary hearing that the alleged victim was unwilling to recount the story a third time.

“The process of testifying has been gruelling and has had a significant detrimental impact on Ms. X,” Silver said, according to hearing records provided by the college. “Ms. X is simply not able to subject herself to the psychological, emotional and physical harm of another hearing.”

The college had the option to serve a summons on Ms. X in order to compel her to testify, but has opted not to so, Silver added.

The incident at the heart of both the criminal trial and disciplinary proceedings took place on Feb. 13, 2011, when the two doctors and the medical student went out for a night of drinking and dancing.

At the 2014 trial, Justice Julie Thorburn voiced doubt as to the prosecution’s version of the events that unfolded that night.

She said the woman and the two doctors “willingly consumed a considerable amount of alcohol that evening and early the next morning.” Thorburn also said that there was no evidence to corroborate the woman’s testimony that she was drugged or sexually assaulted.

Thorburn noted that video surveillance showed the woman “appeared to be in full command of her physical movements” a few minutes before going up to the hotel room where the alleged assault took place.

Further, Thorburn said four text messages were sent from the woman’s cellphone around the time she testified she was unable to resist the alleged sexual encounter with the two doctors.

“She could not have composed and sent text messages if she were unable to move,” Thorburn said, noting that police were unable to retrieve the content of those messages.

Thorburn said that even if the woman did not or could not consent to a sexual encounter due to her condition, the two doctors could have thought she did.

“There is an air of reality to the accused’s claim that they had an honest but mistaken belief that (the woman) consented to the sexual encounter,” Thorburn said.

The college said Chauhan has not been practising medicine since his licence expired in 2011.

Kayilasanathan remains in practice without conditions despite the fact that he is facing another disciplinary hearing before the college later this year.

He stands accused of sexually abusing a patient in his care, allegations that will be heard over several days in November.

Michelle McQuigge, The Canadian Press