A Sri Lankan immigrant doctor has been found guilty of indecently assaulting a female patient during an acupuncture appointment in Perth.
General practitioner Vino Kariyakarawana, a 49-year-old father-of-two who came to Australia in 2008, was on Tuesday convicted of one count of unlawful and indecent assault at Perth Magistrates Court, after two other counts of the same charge were dropped in February.
The court heard Dr Kariyakarawana assaulted his victim, a 30-year-old international student, at the Carlisle Medical Centre in July last year during a follow-up appointment a day after he diagnosed her with a muscle spam or soft tissue injury when she presented with an injured back.
During the appointment the doctor pressed his genitals into his victim, who was dressed in a hospital gown, touched her inappropriately, asked about her sexual history and massaged around her genitals, telling her she was “tense”, The West Australian reported.
After the 90-minute appointment Dr Kariyakarawana typed up and printed a fake feedback form which read “The procedure done professionally and I’m happy with the treatment” and asked her to sign it, the court heard.
Dr Kariyakarawana’s lawyer argued the victim’s account was “inconsistent and implausible” and told the court his client “accidentally” touched the patient with his genitals.
But Magistrate Belinda Coleman found the action was deliberate and that the GP had become sexually aroused during the appointment.
She found the victim “did not freely consent to Dr Kariyakarawana touching her body in a sexual way”, there was no medical reason for him to ask about her sexual history, and that the doctor printed the feedback form to cover up his crimes.
Dr Kariyakarawana is still a registered medical practitioner according to the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency, and a Healthengine online profile states that he “consults male patients only”.
The profile states he has a Masters in Public Health, a Diploma in Child Health, and is “trained in managing Mental Health issues such as depression, anxiety, PTSD, post natal depression, sleep disorders, eating disorders etc”.
Header image: Vino Lunchana Kariyakarawana (Healthengine).
