Düsseldorf/Bielefeld (dpa/lnw) – According to the latest investigations, 32 women could have become victims of a doctor at the Evangelisches Klinikum Bethel in Bielefeld, who is said to have drugged and raped patients. According to a report published on Thursday by the Ministry of Health for the Committee on Equal Opportunities and Women in the State Parliament, 30 of them have been identified. In mid-October, the Duisburg public prosecutor reported 29 victims.
The doctor took his own life in custody after his arrest in autumn 2020. Because the Bielefeld public prosecutor’s office then stopped the investigation and numerous patients were not told that they might have been victims, the colleagues in Duisburg took over the investigation in 2021.
According to the report, the hospital supervisory authority is of the opinion that the hospital has implemented or is implementing all the necessary measures. However, they “unfortunately could not have prevented the terrible events given the high criminal energy of the perpetrator,” says the report. It remains to be seen whether, on the basis of the investigations, personal culpability of individuals in the hospital or organizational culpability on the part of the hospital operator will be determined.