The 25-year-old driver has been removed from the 108 ambulance service and has been arrested
Photo used for representational purpose
An ambulance driver was arrested for allegedly raping a COVID-19 patient while on her way to the hospital in Pathanamthitta district of Kerala.
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According to police officials, the incident took place on Saturday night when the accused was taking two patients - an elderly woman and the 19-year-old rape victim - to different hospitals in the ambulance, according to a report in NDTV.
The accused first dropped off the elderly woman and was taking the victim to another hospital. “Instead, the ambulance driver diverted the vehicle towards an empty ground and raped the woman,” the complaint stated according to the police.
The 25-year-old driver has been removed from the 108 ambulance service and has been arrested.
Kerala Health Minister KK Shailaja expressed shock over the incident and said she has told the police to take strict action against the accused.
Meanwhile, members of the BJP Mahila Morcha held a protest outside Secretariat, demanding health minister’s resignation.
Kerala: Members of the BJP Mahila Morcha in Thiruvanathapuram, protest outside Secretariat demanding Health Minister KK Shailaja's resignation, over alleged rape of a #COVID19 positive woman by an ambulance driver in Pathanamthitta. pic.twitter.com/n7w0bqBPHs
— ANI (@ANI) September 7, 2020
In another case of abuse surfaced on Monday, a junior health inspector in the state capital was arrested after he abused a female COVID-19 patient who went to him for a Covid negative certificate.
The incident occurred when a 40-year-old woman working in Malappuram district returned to her hometown near Thiruvananthapuram.
She was asked to go into quarantine for a 14-day period and after it got over, she approached the Health Inspector for a Covid negative certificate.
The official asked her to come to his house near here where she was abused by him. The incident occurred on September 3.
The woman approached the Vellarada police station in the capital district and registered a complaint, but later it was found that the incident occurred under a different police station's jurisdiction.
Following this, the Pangode police arrested the official. The case has been transferred from Vellarada to Pangode as the crime took place in their jurisdiction. The Health Inspector has been charged under IPC 373, said a police official.
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