After attack on Covid warrior in Kerala, HC tells cops to ‘pull up their socks’

The incident on Monday night occurred when the health worker, who is a nursing assistant, was returning home from the hospital where she works, the police said on Tuesday, adding the assailants had an intention of robbing her, but they tried to abduct her as she did not have any valuables.

The Kerala high court on Wednesday ordered the state police to pull up their socks to protect the lives of coronavirus disease (Covid-19) warriors from 'unscrupulous elements', two days after a woman health worker was attacked by two bike-borne assailants in Alappuzha.

The bench said that where Covid-19 warriors and their services are concerned, society has to ensure that they are protected and not harmed.

The incident on Monday night occurred when the health worker, who is a nursing assistant, was returning home from the hospital where she works, the police said on Tuesday, adding the assailants had an intention of robbing her, but they tried to abduct her as she did not have any valuables.

The Station house officer (SHO) of Thrikkunnapuzha police station told news agency PTI that the assailants gave chase when the nursing assistant resisted their attempts and fled from the spot when they saw a police patrol approaching. The SHO said the victim did not suffer any major physical injuries but she was traumatised.

On Wednesday, a bench of justices Devan Ramachandran and Kauser Edappagath said, “We are not taking it as a solitary issue. We are taking note of it as the issue will have larger ramifications for the future. Time has come to put a stop to it.”

During the hearing, government pleader S Kannan told the Kerala HC bench that a first information report (FIR) was lodged and the police were trying to identify the culprits. Kannan said it was a solitary incident.

The bench, however, disagreed with the above submission and highlighted that it is a law and order issue. And since a Covid-19 warrior was attacked, the bench was going to consider the matter as a part of its proceedings in relation to the recent attacks on health care workers and doctors in hospitals, PTI further reported.

The bench said that where Covid-19 warriors and their services are concerned, society has to ensure that they are protected and not harmed.

Since the Covid-19 pandemic struck India last year, the country has witnessed several incidents of doctors and other health care workers being assaulted by the family members and relatives of patients.

In June, the Indian Medical Association (IMA) wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, seeking his personal intervention on the assault on medical professionals. “In the midst of this pandemic, we are deeply hurt to see the increasing incidents of physical violence against the doctors and the health care professionals in this country,” the IMA had said in its letter addressed to Modi on June 7.

(With PTI inputs)