Indian American Doctor Who Raped Sedated Patient Faces No Jail Time

By Ed Diokno
Views from the Edge

A Texas doctor was convicted and sentenced last Friday for raping a female patient who was heavily sedated under his watch in 2013.

Dr. Shafeeq Sheikh, 46, was found guilty by a Houston jury for the sexual assault that occurred at the Ben Taub Hospital.

The jury of five women and seven men sentenced the Indian American physician to 10 years of probation. The light sentence triggered a torrent of angry posts on social media.

The patient, now 32 and known only as Laura, was in the hospital because of breathing difficulties. She said the doctor touched her breasts in a manner that told her she was being assaulted. She testified that during his multiple visits, she was heavily sedated and was unable to stop his advances. Her attempts to call a nurse by hitting the call button was unsuccessful because — it was later learned — that it had been unplugged.

During the 8-day trial, the doctor did not deny having sex with the patient but the hospital security videotapes showed he visited her room 12 times during the night shift and DNA evidence confirmed the sexual assault.

Sheikh’s defense contended that the sex was consensual. In fact, his lawyers argued, he was seduced.

After a two-year investigation, Sheikh was arrested in 2015. Texas suspended his medical license. The father of four, will have to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life, effectively ending his career as a doctor.

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