A Durban-born doctor has made headlines in the UK following allegations of sexual harassment levelled against him.
Dr Muhammad Khan, an orthopaedic surgeon at the Barnsley District Hospital in the UK, is alleged to have sexually harassed three female staff members at the facility in South Yorkshire.
According to the Daily Mail, a tribunal in the UK heard this week how the 54-year-old groped a female trainee’s breasts and slapped another woman’s bottom, telling her to “have an affair before she dried up”.
One woman told the tribunal how Khan pressed his genitals against her bottom and told her: “This is what you’re missing out on.”
Khan allegedly approached his assistant from behind and then wrapped his arms around her chest saying: “I like your small ribs.” She says he ran his hands across her buttocks, telling her: “No one needs to know about this.”
The assistant claims he “put his face close to hers” and made a “kissing gesture” as she called a patient into surgery.
Khan is alleged to have repeatedly suggested he and the woman start dating before grabbing her.
Police investigated Khan and he was reported to the General Medical Council after three women complained about his conduct between 2006 and 2013.
One staff nurse claimed the doctor slapped her on the bottom, saying: “Big, firm and you liked it.” It was also claimed he had pushed his groin on to her lower back on further occasions, made suggestive groans and added: “What I’d like to do you.”
A third colleague, an operating department practitioner, said Khan put his genitals close to her face while she was kneeling down in a locker room filling out a form.
Khan has denied any wrongdoing.
At the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service, the trainee - an assistant technical officer known as Miss D - said: “This man’s ruined my life and nobody believes it.
“I didn’t want to tell the police because I thought it would be like this - it’s scary and horrible and I am embarrassed.”
Miss D said Khan initially appeared “quite friendly and a generally nice person”, but two months into her new job began making her feel “uncomfortable”.
She claimed he groped her on her breasts and bottom on numerous occasions. He is also alleged to have put his hands on a woman’s private parts while she was sat in a coffee room.
She claims he also made suggestive comments to her in Afrikaans.
Khan’s hearing continues.