Pathanamthitta: An investigation team could not get a statement from the 19-year-old COVID patient who was sexually assaulted in an ambulance by its driver as she is mentally disturbed after the incident, the police said.
A psychiatrist has been assigned for her counselling. Doctors said it would take at least four days for the girl to return to normal.
The police said the ambulance driver, Naufal (29), of Panaykkachira house, Kirikadu south, Kayamkulam, brutally assaulted the 19-year-old COVID patient with precise planning while taking her to hospital. He assaulted her at midnight on Saturday at a deserted place in Aranmula.
Naufal was a driver in the '108' ambulance scheme, a part of the 'Kaniv' project of the health department. He has been arrested. He has previously faced an attempt-to-murder case.
The girl was found to have COVID-19 while staying at a relative’s place, where she had shifted after her mother and others in her house tested positive.
She was taken in the ambulance around 10 pm on Saturday, but the vehicle did not go to the hospital in Pandalam that was just 10 minutes away. She was taken to the Adoor General Hospital, where she was put in another ambulance with a COVID positive woman. Naufal assaulted the girl while taking her to Pandalam after dropping the other woman at the Kozhencherry taluk hospital, the police said.
The ambulance did not follow the rule that stipulates female patients are to be accompanied by female health workers.
Naufal has also been charged under sections relating to the torture of Scheduled Castes, the police said.
The victim recorded Naufal pleading with her after the attack to not tell anyone about the incident. In the audio clip, which the victim recorded without Naufal’s knowledge and which has been handed over to the police, he says he will lose his job if the incident is made public.
Onmanorama has learnt that Naufal was recruited in the ‘108’ ambulance scheme without police verification, a must for the job. At the time of recruitment, he had said that he had applied for the police clearance certificate (PCC) at the Kayamkulam police station and that he would produce it as soon as he received it.
