A GP has been cleared of sexually assaulting a female patient who lied about being groped after she was left “irritated” when he refused to treat her stretch marks.
Dr Yaqub Dadhiwala, 30, was accused of touching the woman’s breasts and putting his hands down her knickers while he examined her in his surgery at Abington Medical Centre in Northampton.
A court heard the woman made an appointment to see him because she was worried about a mole on her leg after she watched an episode of Channel 4’s ‘Embarrassing Bodies’. The woman told a court the trainee GP looked at the mole on her lower calf before asking to examine her back and chest.
She said after she lifted up her top and bra the doctor touched her breasts. She claimed Dr Dadhiwala placed his hands down the waistband of her trousers while examining her stretch marks.
Dr Dadhiwala was arrested and charged with sexual assault after the incident which the woman claimed happened on August 16, 2012. But he was cleared by a jury at Northampton Crown Court who took just 58 minutes to return a unanimous not guilty verdict.
The court heard the woman, who cannot be named, lied about the sexual assault after she became irritated when he refused to give her free stretch mark cream.
Julian Woodbridge, defending, told the court: “She (the patient) was clearly upset and upset with Dr Dadhiwala… She’s irritated when he doesn’t come up with any treatment for her stretch marks. Maybe she was personally insulted.”
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The court also heard the woman said to police: “I’m not being racist but he’s Asian” and told friends the doctor “wore a dress” and “had a funny name.”
Dr Yaqub Dadhiwala conducted a 16-minute consultation with the woman after she asked him to examine her mole. During the hearing he told the court: “I examined the mole on the woman’s leg and also looked at another one she mentioned on her left leg. She then mentioned her concerns about some stretch marks on her stomach and I offered to look at them.
“I examined the woman’s abdomen and looked at one of the stretch marks near her belly button. I did not touch the woman’s trousers but asked her to lower them slightly herself. She was not happy when I could not offer any immediate treatment for the stretch marks and she told me she would save up to get them surgically removed.”
Speaking after he was acquitted, Dr Dadhiwala, from Northampton, who had been suspended since he was arrested, said he was relieved at the verdict and hoped to get back to work immediately. He said: “I would like to thank my friends and family for their support during this very difficult time. I have always aimed to provide my patients with the best standard of care and I look forward to putting this matter behind me. I just want to get back to work.”
