LUCKNOW: Initiating the legal proceedings, Agra police lodged the country's first FIR in connection with a coronavirus case against the father of a 25-year-old woman, who was declared positive for coronavirus, on Sunday taking the tally of inflicted persons to 13 in Uttar Pradesh.
The accused, a senior section engineer in railways, has been booked for resisting the medical team’s effort to isolate his daughter, who was then suspected to be coronavirus positive. He is also accused of lying to the authorities about the whereabouts of his daughter.
He has been booked under Section 269 (Negligent act likely to spread infection of disease dangerous to life) and Section 270 (Malignant act likely to spread infection of disease dangerous to life) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
According to police, despite knowing the repercussions of the his act and the potential threat of infecting a large section of community, the railway engineer concealed crucial information from the administration putting the well being of a number of people at stake.
However, Agra SSP Babloo Kumar said that more name could be included in the FIR as the investigation would proceed.
The woman, who was tested positive for coronavirus by Lucknow's King Geroges' Medical University, had returned to Bengaluru with her husband from Italy after their honeymoon on March 8.
Soon, after her spouse started showing coronavirus symptoms and tested positive for it, the woman took a flight to Delhi from where she left for her parental home in Agra through train. Meanwhile, her husband was isolated in Bengaluru.
As per the sources, Agra district magistrate PN Singh got an alert from Bengaluru authorities on March 12, on the day the techie tested positive, about the presence of the woman, a Covid-19 suspect, in the city of Taj.
When the health authorities reached her house to ensure the isolation of the family, they had a harrowing experience as initially, her father refused to cooperate with medical team and then lied about her saying she had returned to Bengaluru to her husband. "They refused to cooperate with the medical team jeopardizing safety of several others," said Singh.
The DM then got in touch with central and state authorities and roped in police intelligence to trace the
woman with the latter confirming the woman's presence in Agra later.
Health officials along with a police team reached the house of the woman’s father and brought all the suspects to the isolation wards. After ensuring isolation of the entire family, Agra DM PN Singh recommended an FIR against the family for "misleading health officials".
However, the family claimed that the woman's husband had tested positive on March 12, while she had travelled to Agra on March 9 and hence, didn't not know of her spouse's infection beforehand.