BHOPAL: A dispute over the COVID-19 test of a Delhi returned man turned violent, killing two people and injuring three others in Bhind district of Madhya Pradesh on Friday night.
The incident happened in Prem Nagar area of Bhind district, 500 km from Bhopal, when members of a scheduled caste family insisted that a man from the family next door, who had returned recently from Delhi, get a COVID-19 test done in Bhind as the pandemic had badly hit the capital.
The other family maintained that there was no need for the COVID-19 check-up as he had already underwent a test in Delhi, which had come out negative. They also said that despite having tested negative for the deadly infection in Delhi, the man was quarantined at home.
However, the other family didn’t believe the claims and kept insisting that the man go for a COVID-19 test in Bhind.
The noisy brawl suddenly turned violent as the family of the man who had returned from Delhi started pelting stones on the other family. The other family also responded. During the violence, an elderly woman Kala Devi died after being hit in the head by stones.
Four other member of the same family were hurt, of which a man identified as Vishnu Jatav succumbed to his wounds at a hospital in Gwalior on Saturday.
An official from the Bhind district police said, “A case of double murder has been lodged against nine persons of the other family hailing from the minority community, out of which five have so far been arrested.”