Potential change: AIIMS rape accused doctor's anticipatory bail plea scheduled to be heard Saturday

After performing a sham marriage, he also forced the complainant to abort, it said.

A court here is likely to hear on Saturday the anticipatory bail plea of a 54-year-old doctor of All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) accused of raping another doctor ''on the pretext of marriage.'' A district and sessions judge in South Delhi is expected to hear the arguments on Dr Deepak Gupta's anticipatory bail plea.

Last month, a metropolitan magistrate's court had summoned the doctor to appear on February 26, saying the evidence on record was ''prima facie sufficient'' to proceed with the case. A week after the accused doctor was summoned, an organisation working for women's rights demanded his suspension and arrest. In his bail plea, Gupta said he was cooperating with the police and that there was no cogent evidence against him.

The plea claimed the doctor is ''renowned worldwide'' and his ''illustrious career is characterised by a series of extraordinary achievements, particularly in the realm of complex surgeries that push the boundaries of medical possibility.'' According to the FIR, Gupta, a professor of neurosurgery at AIIMS, raped the complainant, also a doctor, on several occasions on the pretext of marriage. After performing a ''sham marriage,'' he also forced the complainant to abort, it said.