Kerala Health Inspector Arrested On Charges Of Raping Woman Seeking COVID Negative Certificate

A junior health inspector in Kerala has been arrested after being accused of sexually assaulting a woman who was under observation for COVID-19, in Thiruvananthapuram, reports said.

The police registered a case against Pradeep from Pangode, under section 376 (rape) of the Indian Penal Code.

Kulathupuzha panchayat president Lilabeevi P told Manorama that the woman was a home nurse working in Malappuram who had been asked to go into quarantine after she came back.

Pradeep, a junior health inspector attached to Kulathupuzha primary health centre in Kollam district, had asked the woman to come to his flat at Pangode in Thiruvananthapuram to collect the ‘COVID-19 negative’ certificate, the report said.

According to the report, the woman’s statement said she was tied up and attacked at the house of the accused on September 3. She was freed the next day.

Kerala Health Minister KK Shailaja instructed the Health Department to immediately dismiss the junior health inspector, Manorama reported.

Meanwhile, the Kerala State Women’s Commission has taken suo motu cognisance of the case along with the alleged rape of a Covid patient by an ambulance driver , which came to light over the weekend.

Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala said that the two cases showed serious lapses on part of the state government’s health department.