Teguh Raharjo Eko Purwato, chairman of the Lebong Regency Council (DPRD) in Sumatra’s Bengkulu province, is in the midst of a scandal after he was accused of slapping a doctor in a state-owned hospital in the regency.
According to Selviana, director of Lembong Regional General Hospital (RSUD Lembong), Teguh slapped one of their doctors — whose identity and gender was not disclosed — during the councilman’s inspection of the hospital on September 15.
“The slap on the doctor was done by the Lembong DPRD chairman. It was caused by a misunderstanding,” Sylviana told Kompas on Sunday.
Selviana did not say exactly what transpired before the slap, but assured that the hospital has reported the incident to the police.
After a few days of silence, Teguh finally spoke to the media yesterday to give his side of the story. According to him, he was carrying out a surprise inspection at the hospital that day. While seeing the sick grandchild of a colleague in the hospital, he asked a question to the doctors in the room who was attending the child.
“At the time, I asked, “who is this child’s doctor? Has the child been looked at?’” Teguh said, as quoted by Kompas.
Teguh said that one doctor, who he identified as Dr I, exclaimed that he or she was attending the child while arrogantly pointing at his or her chest.
“I was confused why, when answering my question, the doctor pointed to the chest while saying, ‘I’m the doctor.’ I said, ‘I’m confused, why were you insulted by my question?’” he said.
As Teguh was leaving the hospital, he said he bumped into Dr I again and asked to sit down with the doctor to have a talk about their previous encounter. Teguh said he placed his hand on the doctor’s lap and again asked the doctor why he or she was insulted so easily.
“I asked, ‘Do you know who I am?’ And then (the doctor) responded, ‘I don’t, sir.’ It was at that moment that I touched the doctor’s cheek, I poked it, there was no slapping,” Teguh said.
Another doctor, identified by the initial Dr Y, saw the contact and yelled out loud that Teguh had slapped Dr I, threatening to report him to the police. Teguh said he challenged them to prove it to the authorities, because if he had slapped Dr I then he would’ve left a mark on the cheek, which, according to Teguh, there wasn’t one.
Regardless, Teguh said he is trying to find a peaceful settlement with the hospital regarding the incident.
The police have not yet launched an official investigation, but the National Democratic Party (NasDem), of which Teguh is a cadre, is launching an internal ethics inquiry into the incident and said Teguh may face heavy sanctions if he was proven guilty.
In July, a military doctor and the wife of a police general slapped airport security officers for what they said to be impolite manners while carrying out their jobs. The incidents prompted Jakarta’s Soekarno-Hatta Airport management to instruct their security officers to “smile more” to prevent them from being slapped.
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