Female doctor resigns over Burkah issue

  By K. Buddhika Kumarasiri  
A female doctor who was appointed to the Homagama hospital has resigned from her post after she was asked to remove the Burkah she was wearing and perform her duties in the hospital, Homagama hospital sources said. 

 When this doctor had come to serve in the Out- Patients Department of the Homagama Base hospital on a day in the last week of April , the patients had expressed their unwillingness to obtain treatment from her due to the fact she was dressed in a Burkah.  

In the meantime, hospital authorities had informed her father to come to the hospital and both of them had left the hospital. This doctor had not reported for duty until May 2 and on May2, she had given a call saying she was sick, according to hospital sources. She had later sent her letter of resignation to the Superintendent of Health, Dr. Hettiarachchi.  

When inquired from the superintendent in this regard, he said the doctor concerned had given her resignation to him due to an incident that took place about wearing a Burkah but the Ministry of Health had not informed him about the acceptance of her resignation so far.