BHOPAL: Two young siblings who are natives of Madhya Pradesh’s Khargone district, pursuing medical studies abroad, were booked by MP police on Friday for threatening to spread the deadly novel coronavirus in entire Khargone district.
Importantly, after their parents tested positive for the COVID-19, the brother-sister duo too tested positive for the deadly infection on Wednesday.
While on way to the Khargone district hospital in an ambulance on Thursday, the siblings shot a video, which became viral on various social media platforms later.
In the video, the sister wearing double face mask is seen sneezing and coughing, threatening to spread the killer infection in entire Khargone district. The video has triggered panic in the town.
In the video which has gone viral in social media, the young girl’s brother isn’t visible but is audible, where he is heard saying, "we’re going on vacation with chai (tea) and adds that the disease is an ailment of the rich people."
With the video uploaded over social media going viral, the police took cognizance of the matter on Friday and booked the siblings under section 188 (disobedience to an order duly promulgated by public servant) 269 (negligent act likely to spread infection of disease dangerous to life) and 270 (malignant act likely spread infection of a disease dangerous to life) of IPC and u/s 52 and 54 of the Epidemic Act 2005, Khargone Kotwali in-charge Lalitsing Dangur said.
Meanwhile, the young girl has retracted her video statements on Friday, saying she had made the threatening statements out of sheer frustration and anger due to various kinds of public discussions after her parents’ contracted the infection and were hospitalized.
The West MP district Khargone has so far reported 99 COVID-19 positive cases and eight deaths. As many as 62 patients have also been discharged from hospitals in Khargone after turning negative for the killer virus.