Horror when woman in her nineties with Alzheimer’s disease is ‘sexually abused in her hospital bed by a fellow patient’
Irish police are investigating the alleged assault of a woman in her 90s suffering from Alzheimer’s disease by a fellow hospital patient.
A middle-aged man was arrested after he was seen by another patient in the ward allegedly getting into the elderly woman’s hospital bed on Wednesday, December 18.
Hospital staff intervened and he was removed from the facility the following day, when he was arrested and questioned by gardai.
According to the Irish Independent, the suspect said he was confused about the woman’s identity and that he got into bed with her thinking she was a woman he knew.
The suspect was later released without charge, but a file on the incident is reportedly being prepared for the Director of Public Prosecutions.
The alleged victim was unable to make a statement to the police due to her psychological condition.
A spokesperson for the RCSI Hospital group told MailOnline: ‘The hospital is committed to the safety of patients, visitors and staff and is cooperating fully with An Garda Síochána’s investigation. We cannot comment further on an ongoing investigation.”
The horrific incident comes after it was revealed in 2023 that gardai had investigated 143 cases of sexual assault in hospitals over a three-year period.
Irish police are investigating the alleged assault of a woman in her 90s suffering from Alzheimer’s disease by a fellow hospital patient. Pictured: Stock photo of a woman with Alzheimer’s disease
A middle-aged man was arrested after he was seen by another patient in the ward allegedly getting into the elderly woman’s hospital bed on Wednesday, December 18.
Separate data showed that a total of twelve patients were sexually abused in Irish mental health facilities in 2022.
Meanwhile, a damning 2023 report revealed that dozens of rapes and sexual assaults occur in hospitals every week in Britain.
The official figures reveal the horrific scale of the abuse, with 6,500 attacks reported in just three years.
This includes gang rape and abuse of children. The statistics were published today by the Women’s Rights Network, whose founder Heather Binning said they were ‘just the tip of the iceberg’.
In May, an Italian woman took her own life after being raped while on a stretcher in the emergency department.
The 22-year-old was waiting for treatment at Vizzolo Predabissi hospital near Milan when she was sexually assaulted. Around 4 a.m., she told the nurses, who quickly called the police, “Help, I’ve been raped,” according to Italian newspaper Corriere Della Serra.
The suspect, a 28-year-old warehouse worker, was arrested several hours later while sleeping on a stretcher in the emergency room.
The next morning, the woman reportedly jumped from a window on the fourth floor of the hospital. Despite efforts by medics to save her life, she was pronounced dead at the scene.
The suspect denied the rape accusation and told a local court that the sexual encounter was consensual.
He said he “didn’t force anyone” and that they talked and shared a cigarette before they started kissing.
He could not remember how he ended up in the hospital and told investigators that he had been drinking a lot of alcohol and smoking a few joints with some friends, according to local reports.