COVID-19 Patient On Oxygen Support Accuses Hospital Ward Boy Of Trying To Rape Her

A hospital ward boy in India was arrested Sunday after he allegedly tried to rape a COVID-19 patient, who was on oxygen support.

The 50-year-old woman was at a COVID-19 care center set up in a hotel when she was attacked Saturday. The police in Gwalior, a city in the central state of Madhya Pradesh, arrested the accused after the victim's son filed a complaint that she was assaulted. The accused was identified as Vivek Lodhi, The Times of India reported.

The woman mentioned in her statement Lodhi tried to rape her twice. He had come into the ward where the woman was resting and attacked her when no one else was around. The ward boy had then fled when the woman resisted. The woman's brother-in-law accused the hospital staff of helping the ward boy flee, India.com reported.

Additional Superintendent of Police Hitika Vasal told local media an investigation is underway, India Today reported.

India’s daily tally of COVID-19 infections has been surging by records, with more than 14.5 million cases so far and over 175,600 fatalities. In the country's capital, New Delhi, a seven-day curfew was imposed starting Monday amid an exponential rise in coronavirus cases. Last week, the western state of Maharashtra had imposed lockdown-like curbs in several cities to break the virus chain. With more than 68,000 fresh positives Sunday, the state's total tally of Covid-19 cases reached 38,39,338. Maharashtra is one of the worst hit states in India.

Last year in the southern state of Kerala, a private hospital staff was accused of attempting to rape a COVID-19 patient. The accused was identified as 34-year-old Ashwin Krishna. The police arrested Krishna for allegedly trying to rape the female patient after luring her on the pretext of meeting the doctor, Times Now reported at the time.

In September last year, an ambulance driver in Kerala was arrested for allegedly raping a 19-year-old coronavirus patient. Two COVID-19 patients, an elderly woman and the 19-year-old woman, were being taken to two different hospitals by an ambulance driver. The accused first dropped off the elderly woman at a hospital, and then took the 19-year-old patient to a deserted location instead of the COVID-19 center, and raped her. He then dropped the woman off at the care center.