Coronavirus in India: 6 Markaz attendees booked for obscene behavior towards nurse at hospital in UP

Six members of the Tablighi Jamaat, who took part in a religious congregation in the national capital connected to tons of Covid-19 cases, face charges under National Security Act (NSA) following accusation of assault on nurse and obscene conduct at a hospital in Uttar Pradesh’s Ghaziabad. Following the hospital’s complaint to the police, the state’s Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath ordered charges under the draconian law that authorizes incarceration without charges for up until a year if the accused are seen be a threat to public order.

"They will not follow the law, nor will they accept order. They are the enemies of humanity, what they have done with women healthcare providers is a heinous crime. We are invoking the National Security Act against them, we will not spare them," Yogi Adityanath said.

In Ghaziabad, authorities have hunted down 136 people who took part in the religious congregation in Markaz Nizamuddin last month, the headquarter of Tablighi Jamaat, in the national capital, which is the main Covid-19 hotspot connected to almost 400 cases and at least seven deaths. Six of them were showing symptoms of SARS-CoV-2 and had been admitted to MMG hospital on 31st March. One of them has tested positive.

"Our nurses and paramedical staff have complained about obscene behavior by these patients," Ravindra Singh, the chief medical officer of the hospital told NDTV.

"My staff complained many times, I spoke to the patients but they refused to listen. Finally our staff said they cannot work under such circumstances, we were compelled to send a written complaint to the police," he said.

An FIR charges the Tablighi members with assault or criminal force on women, obscene acts and "malignant behavior likely to spread infection".

Other day, the Delhi government had asked the police chief to provide forces at hospitals and isolation centres where member from a Nizamuddin Markaz have been lodged. On of the member attempted suicide at a hospital and two others ran away from a quarantine facility and were later hunted down, the government stated.

Medical superintendents of several hospital had make a complaint about inmates inducing a ruckus and making it hard for staff to deal with them, it added.

A number of states are hunting down members of the group, who travelled across the country amid Covid-19 crisis, defying all guidelines and intensifying worries of coronavirus.

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