Quarantined woman doctor returns home to neighbour’s abuse

AROUND 4.30PM, HER NEIGHBOUR ON THE GROUND FLOOR CAME TO HER FIRST-FLOOR FLAT AND BEGAN SCREAMING AND HURLING ABUSES AT HER, SAYING SHE WAS COVID-19 POSITIVE AND COULD NOT STAY THERE

nNEW DELHI: A 27-year-old woman doctor on Covid-19 duty, who contracted the virus while treating patients at a government hospital in north Delhi, was allegedly humiliated, intimidated and sexual harassed by her neighbour, who even locked her in her south Delhi flat in Vasant Kunj, when she returned home from an isolation facility on Wednesday.

On Thursday, a case of wrongful restraint and sexual harassment was registered against the neighbour at the Vasant Kunj South police station on the doctor’s complaint, said deputy commissioner of police (south-west) Devender Arya.

“We have started the probe into the case and it’s in the preliminary stage. The neighbour will be asked to join the investigation. Further action will be taken accordingly,” said a senior police officer who asked not to be named.

The doctor could not be reached for comment; repeated calls and text messages to her cellphone went unanswered.

Since a sexual harassment charge is included in the case, the doctor’s name and other details that can reveal her identity have been withheld by the police.

The doctor said in her complaint that after being discharged from the isolation centre, she returned home on Wednesday. Around 4.30pm, her neighbour on the ground floor came to her firstfloor flat and began screaming and hurling abuses at her, saying she was Covid-19 positive and could not stay there.

“...even after explaining to him that I have two confirmed negative test reports and have been satisfactorily discharged from the isolation centre, he did not stop screaming at me,” the doctor added in the complaint.

The doctor alleged that when she asked him to talk to the president of the residents’ welfare association (RWA), the neighbour latched her door from outside and shouted, “I will see how you step out and will make sure you leave this place. Call whoever you want to.”

The RWA president said the doctor informed her about the matter and she in turn alerted the Vasant Kunj South’s station house officer (SHO), who sent a beat officer.

The neighbour said he has apologised to the doctor and the police for his “aggressive behaviour”. He claimed that he was unaware that the doctor had been on Covid-19 duty and objected only because she had returned home after just a week in quarantine. “The doctor was shifted to the quarantine facility on May 6. I was surprised when she returned on May 13 because as per my knowledge, a Covid patient is quarantined for at least 14 days. I was concerned for my wife and children’s safety, so I protested. Later, I realised my mistake and apologised to her,” he said over phone.

The RWA president, however, said the neighbour was aware of what was happening. A Whatsapp group was created to post updates from the day the doctor tested positive for the virus, the president added.

She said that after the doctor tested positive, authorities recommended a home quarantine as is usually done in the case of mild cases. “But we knew that many residents would object to that. So the authorities were requested to shift her to an isolation facility. The doctor went willingly. But neighbours humiliating her even after she has recovered from the disease is not justified,” the RWA president said.

On April 22, in the backdrop of persistent attacks on health care workers , the Centre approved an ordinance to make such attacks a cognisable and non-bailable offence, expedite the investigation; imprison those convicted by up to seven years; and impose stringent penalties on vandalism and damage to property.