The crime occurred on Saturday night when the defendant was taking two Covid patients to the hospital. (Proceedings)
Thiruvananthapuram:
A driver from the 108 ambulance service was arrested for allegedly raping a young woman, a COVID-19 patient, while on her way to the hospital in Kerala’s Pathanamthitta, about 100 kilometers north of the capital Thiruvananthapuram, police said.
According to officials from the Pandalam Police Station, the incident occurred on Saturday night when the defendant was taking two patients, an elderly woman and the 19-year-old rape survivor, to different hospitals in the ambulance, according to a complaint in the matter.
First, the driver left the old woman, after which the 19-year-old woman had to be taken to the Pandalam hospital. Instead, the ambulance driver diverted the vehicle onto an empty lot and raped the young woman, according to the complaint according to police.
The driver, Nowfal, 25, has been removed from the 108 ambulance service.
Further investigations into the matter are underway, Pathanamthitta police said.
Expressing shock at the incident, Kerala Health Minister KK Shailaja has told the police to crack down on the accused.
Cases of sexual assault on COVID-19 patients have been reported across the country. In Delhi in July, two people were arrested for allegedly raping a teenage COVID-19 patient at a Covid Care Center.
Kerala, the first state in the country to register a coronavirus case, is battling a second wave of COVID-19 infections. According to government estimates, the daily Covid count could rise to 10,000 cases.
On Saturday, Kerala recorded 2,655 new coronavirus cases, the highest peak in the Covid case count in a single day, and 2,111 recoveries. The state now has a total of nearly 63,000 cases.
It has increased its tests to 40,162 samples in 24 hours.
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