The police in eastern Assam’s Chairaideo district have arrested two men on the charge of raping a woman who was walking home from a hospital after recovering from COVID-19. The alleged incident happened at 7:30 p.m. on May 27.
The Sapekhati Model Hospital, about 25 km from her home in a tea garden, had released the woman and her teenage daughter after both tested negative.
Both wanted to spend the night at the hospital complex but the medical staff allegedly did not entertain their request. They also allegedly did not provide the duo with transport during the night curfew.
The two accused pounced upon the duo when they were about 4 km short of their home. The daughter managed to escape and inform the plantation workers who sought action from the police.
“The victim has identified the two persons we arrested. They are being interrogated and would be produced in the local court on Tuesday,” district Superintendent of Police Sudhakar Singh said.
The Congress slammed the Sapekhati hospital authorities for failing to provide an ambulance to ferry the woman and her daughter home. “The woman and her daughter were left to fend for themselves when the lockdown was in place. Isn’t it the responsibility of the hospital and the local authorities to see to it that the woman and her daughter reached their home safely?” its leader Bobbeeta Sharma said.
She also cited a tweet by BJP’s Khumtai MLA Mrinal Saikia on arranging an ambulance for two COVID-19 patients after the Golaghat Civil Hospital refused to provide one. “This is the actual ground situation of health infrastructure and COVID-19 management in Assam.”
