‘There was this constant fear: My sexual abuse hell on a NHS mental health ward’
Terrified, crumpled and crying in fear, Rivkah Grant sat in her hospital room grappling with the fact she had just been sexually assaulted by a male healthcare assistant.
That experience, in a mental health hospital which was supposed to keep her safe, would rock her to her core, leaving her fearful and distrustful of mental health services for the rest of her life.
Now aged 34, Rivkah is able to describe in harrowing detail how she was abused at the hands of NHS worker Krishna Jaganaikloo during her time at Chase Farm Hospital in north London.
In January 2016, she had been admitted to a female-only mental health ward after suffering extreme depression and anxiety.
Recalling her first impressions, she told The Independent: “The ward was very chaotic. There didn’t seem to be staff around. I was kind of left to my own devices and wasn’t really checked up on. It was quite a scary atmosphere.
“There was one staff member who I met on
