Pandalam police said the scandalous act took place after 10 pm.
The driver, identified as V Noufal (29), apparently a habitual offender with criminal charges against him, raped the girl when she was taken to the Pandalam Covid-19 Frontline Treatment Center from the Kozhencherry district hospital.
Sources said a 42-year-old woman and the 19-year-old girl visited the Adoor government general hospital after testing positive for Covid-19.
As there were no empty beds at the Adoor hospital, the authorities ordered the ambulance driver to take the girl to the first-line COVID-19 treatment center in Pandalam and the woman to the Kozhencherry district hospital.
The ambulance driver, instead of heading to Pandalam first, dropped the woman off at Kozhencherry and took her on the way to the Aranmula airport project.
The driver parked the ambulance in an isolated location near the airport project en route to Pandalam.
He took off his personal protective equipment (PPE), opened the back door of the ambulance and raped the girl.
Noufal threatened the girl with dire consequences if she revealed the incident to someone.
He then left the girl in Pandalam and went to Adoor General Hospital.
The girl reported to the Pandalam authorities who, in turn, informed the police.
The defendant was arrested on Sunday morning.
According to police, the driver even apologized to the victim after raping her. “What I’ve done is wrong. Forgive me. You shouldn’t tell this to anyone,” he said.
Health Minister KK Shailaja described the incident as “inhumane” and added that “it should not have happened.”
A probe has been ordered.
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