Ward boy arrested for molesting COVID-19 positive woman in Pune

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In a shocking incident, Pune's Hadapsar police on Saturday arrested a ward boy for allegedly molesting a COVID-19 positive patient, who was undergoing treatment at the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of a private hospital at Hadapsar.

The accused identified as Ashok Namdeo Gawali (40) allegedly molested the 35-year-old COVID-19 positive patient by inappropriately touching her, reports Hindustan Times. A police official said that the accused was wearing a mask when he went near the bed of the victim.

After reaching the victim's bed, he asked her whether she recognised him after lowering his face mask. A Pune police official said, "A case has been registered with Hadapsar police station of Pune against the 40-year-old ward boy of a private hospital in Pune for molesting the woman COVID-19 patient admitted here."

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The accused then shared a personal detail with her, which the victim ignored. However, when she refused to share her mobile number, the ward boy physically molested her. At the same time, when a woman staff entered the ICU unit and identified the ward boy, he immediately left the room.

The Hadapsar police filed a case against the ward boy late on Friday night under section 354 of the IPC. "The victim lodged a complaint with Hadapsar after we sent the team to the hospital," police inspector Ramesh Sathe, who is investigating the case.

With inputs from agencies

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