A doctor is facing the prospect of years in jail after a jury convicted him of sexually assaulting a vulnerable patient in Bunbury Hospital’s emergency department. Priyantha Dayananda, 49, stood trial in the District Court accused of digitally penetrating the 45-year-old woman during an abdominal examination in December 2017. Dayananda claimed the woman mistakenly identified him as the perpetrator and denied he sent a series of sexual text messages to the woman following the attack from a “secret” phone. But after a seven-day trial and deliberating for almost 10 hours over two days, a jury convicted Dayananda of sexually penetrating the woman without her consent in a majority verdict. During the trial, the court was told Dayananda was on duty at the regional hospital when the woman came to the ED in pain from complications following surgery months earlier. The woman had needed emergency surgery on her abdomen after a former partner kicked her in the stomach, causing issues with a previous gastric banding surgery. It was during that two-week stay, the court was told, that she first met Dayananda, who was one of her treating physicians in his role as a surgical registrar. The woman testified the doctor had paid “special attention” to her, visiting her alone almost daily, asking her out and stroking her hair. After being discharged, she had to return in December after her surgical wound became infected. The victim said it was during this visit that Dayananda pulled the curtains closed, placed her hands on her stomach, and moved his hands into her underwear. She said while he assaulted her, he continued to ask her out while making an inappropriate remark about her cleanliness. “I told him I had to go to the toilet and then ran out of the hospital as fast as possible,” she testified. Judge Belinda Lonsdale granted bail on strict conditions on a $10,000 personal undertaking and $10,000 surety after she was told his family was financially dependent on him and he needed time to get his affairs in order. Dayananda, who held his head in his hands after the verdict, is also required to report to a police station daily. He will be sentenced on June 21.
