Two arrested for molesting a Covid-19 patient

The Gautam Budh Nagar police has arrested two persons who had molested a 20-year-old coronavirus disease (Covid-19) patient on Wednesday afternoon pretending to

The Gautam Budh Nagar police has arrested two persons who had molested a 20-year-old coronavirus disease (Covid-19) patient on Wednesday afternoon pretending to be doctors.

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The woman who is undergoing treatment for Covid-19 at the Sharda Hospital in Greater Noida was allegedly molested by a ward boy and a man handling the store area of the hospital. The suspects had claimed to be doctors. The woman, who had recently given birth, was admitted to the hospital along with her newborn.

The woman had said on Wednesday afternoon, a man wearing a protection kit approached her and asked her for her urine and milk samples for testing. The man was accompanied by another one and both claimed to be doctors.

The arrested persons have been identified as Luvkush, of Bulandshahr, and Pravin Sundar of Meerut. Both the suspects were employees of an outsourcing company contracted by the hospital.

The Knowledge Park police station had filed an FIR on a complaint given by Sharda hospital late Wednesday. The accused were booked under Section 354 (assault or criminal force on woman with intent to outrage her modesty) of the Indian Penal Code.

After the incident, the Sharda hospital has made isolation wards separate for women and men. A permanent staff has been deployed in the CCTV control room to keep a watch on people entering the Covid-19 section of the hospital. Authorities at Sharda hospital have also served notice to the outsourcing company which has been providing workers to them. All male hospital staff have been told to ensure the safety of women patients.

The district magistrate has also asked the senior health officials to come up with strict guidelines for hospitals to ensure the safety of female patients.

“I have asked the chief medical superintendent of the district hospital to prepare strict guidelines keeping in mind the safety of female patients to ensure that no incident like the Sharda one takes place again. There will be zero tolerance for such disgraceful acts. We will be issuing guidelines for hospitals soon ,” Suhas LY, district magistrate, GB Nagar, said.

The 20-year-old woman had given birth to a girl at a Noida hospital on April 25 and doctors had taken her sample, as per protocol, for Covid-19 testing. On May 3, the woman tested positive for the infection and she was admitted to the Sharda hospital. Her husband and brother-in-law were shifted to the quarantine centre.