Swab taken from woman's private parts during Covid-19 testing, lab technician held

Mumbai, July 30: A lab technician in Maharashtra's Amravati district has been arrested on charges of rape after he took swab samples from a woman's private parts when she went there for coronavirus testing, police said on Thursday.

State Woman and Child Development Minister Yashomati Thakur expressed shock over the incident, that took place on Tuesday, and said strict action will be taken against the technician. The complainant worked at a mall in Amravati.

After one of the staff members there tested positive for coronavirus on July 24, nasal swabs of 20 to 25 other staff members, including the complainant, were taken at a testing centre in the district on Tuesday, Badnera police station's inspector Punjab Wanjari told PTI.

After taking the nasal swab of the complainant, the lab technician allegedly also took swab sample from her private parts, he said.

The woman later registered a complaint and the accused was arrested on Tuesday night and charged under Indian Penal Code Sections 354 (assault or criminal force on woman with intent to outrage her modesty) and 376 (rape), he said. Minister Yashomati Thakur said Amravati Collector Shailesh Naval has informed that the accused technician has been arrested by Badnera police.

"The technician has been booked under IPC Sections 354 and 376, and he will not be spared. Such a test is not done and this is an atrocity (against the woman)," she said. Thakur, who is also the guardian minister of Amravati, said it was shocking that such an incident took place in the district which gave the country its first woman President (Pratibha Patil).