The incident came into light when a video of two officials beating up a boy for not taking the COVID-19 test went viral on Monday.
Bengaluru: The officials seen in the viral video of a boy being beaten up and forced to take a Covid-19 test are not Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) officials, but are on deputation from the Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC).
V. N. Veerabhadraswamy, joint commissioner of BBMP south zone, said the officials who were seen assaulting the youth were Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) officials who were deputed for COVID-19 duty from the last one year. “A notice had been issued yesterday to both the assaulters. There is an enquiry at one o’clock today and we’ll be submitting a report with the BBMP Chief Commissioner Gaurav Gupta by evening.”
Officials confirmed that the incident took place in Nagarathpet which comes under the Dharmaraya Swamy Temple ward in Chickpet constituency of South Zone.
In the 24-second video, a boy wearing a blue shirt can be seen being beaten up by two people. In the video, the man is seen holding the boy’s neck, and pushing him down onto the table. A few passers-by are seen trying to stop the official.
Two more videos of 30 seconds and 45 seconds, shot by a resident went viral yesterday.
BBMP Chief Commissioner Gaurav Gupta, in response to the incident tweeted, “We regret the incident at Nagarathpet testing booth. There is no question of forceful testing. We condemn any physical altercation that has happened. Enquiry would be conducted to find out what led to this, who is responsible, and also to prevent any such recurrence.”
BMTC Public Relations Officer, Ajit Toragal said, “We can’t comment on the incident until we get a report from the BBMP as the incident took place at the BBMP booth. Once they officially confirm that the people involved were BMTC people we’ll be taking necessary actions then.”
Veerabhadraswamy said that since then the testing has been wound up from there and the makeshift centre has been closed down.
the wrong is from both the sides. If a Covid test is given to a person, legally I am not talking but ethically when a pandemic is going on the person is obliged to take it.
Prabhu N Savanur, a Civil and Criminal lawyer said, “Physical assault is completely wrong. If a person is rejecting the Covid-19 test the reason should be asked very clearly. If the officials felt that the boy had violated any of the sections of the epidemic diseases act they should have sent him to the nearest police custody.”
