The situation in West Bengal remained tense as political violence against the BJP party workers continued unabated on Wednesday. In yet another incident of political killings, a BJP worker named Arup Ruidas was killed and hanged from a tree in Bankura district.
According to the reports, Arup Ruidas, who was a booth agent from Indus Assembly of West Bengal has been murdered by TMC workers.
BJP Booth Agent, Arup Ruidas, Indus Assembly of West Bengal has been hanged till death by TMC workers. pic.twitter.com/ZnxpStTXk9
— Vikas Bhadauria (ABP News) (@vikasbha) May 5, 2021
In another incident, bombs were hurled at the residence of a BJP worker in the Kankinara area of Bhatpara on Wednesday. Raj Biswas, a BJP worker, said three people hurled bombs at his home.
West Bengal: Unidentified people hurled bombs at the residence of a BJP worker in Kankinara area of Bhatpara, yesterday.
Raj Biswas, BJP worker said, “I have seen the CCTV of three persons hurling bombs at my home. My family is terrified. Police came here & sought CCTV footage” pic.twitter.com/GY39MuTtTN
In another incident, TMC party workers allegedly attacked Jadavpur BJP candidate Rinku Naskar’s house. The TMC goons reportedly entered the house of the BJP candidate to vandalize following her defeat in the elections.
Meanwhile, on Wednesday, BJP president JP Nadda said that at least 14 BJP workers have been killed during the post-election violence that erupted following the victory of Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress in West Bengal. On Wednesday, Nandigram MLA and BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari said that over one lakh people have already fled Bengal since the post-poll violence erupted in West Bengal.
In recently concluded polls, TMC won 213 out of 292 seats while BJP won 77 seats. Following the election victory, the Trinamool workers have been unleashing rampant violence against their political opponents, including BJP workers and those of CPM and even Congress. Several BJP karyakartas are said to have been killed brutally in the apparent victory celebration by the TMC. In a gruesome incident, BJP’s Avijit Sarkar was lynched to death along with his pet puppies allegedly by the TMC’s bloodthirsty cadre.
Self-styled spiritual leader who is currently serving his time in Jodhpur jail has tested positive for COVID-19. After complaining of uneasiness and breathlessness, he has been shifted to the emergency ward of Mahatma Gandhi Hospital for treatment.
The 84-year-old who tested COVID-19 positive on Wednesday was rushed to the hospital after his SPO2 levels dropped below 90%.
Allegedly a large number of his supporters rushed to the hospital where he is being treated. Police forces have been deployed outside the hospital to control the mob.
Reports suggest that Asaram’s health has been deteriorating and was admitted to the hospital in February as well.
Arrested on charges of rape
Asaram was arrested in 2013 on charges of raping a minor. He has also been accused of murder. In April 2018, he was convicted of rape. He has been accused of rape of a 16-year-old girl at his ashram in Manai village in Jodhpur. The girl, who hails from Shahjahanpur in UP had accused that Asaram had called her to his premises and raped her on the night of August 15, 2013.
Asaram is also accused on other rape charges against him filed by two sisters in Gujrat separately. His son Narayan Sai is also accused of rape and illegal confinement in the cases. Over the years, many witnesses and key persons related to Asaram’s case have been reportedly attacked and some have gone missing.
COVID situation in Rajasthan
The state of Rajasthan on Wednesday recorded 16,815 new coronavirus cases and 17,022 recoveries.
Meanwhile, the Rajasthan government is asking for funds from social workers, public representatives, donors and other sections of the society to carry out free vaccination of people above 18 years of age.
Approval has been given for a new bank account- Raj CMRF COVID VACCINATION ACCOUNT–for this purpose.
Claiming that the funds will be used for free immunisation, the CM urged the contributors to transfer the support amount by cash, cheque or electronically.
As many as 13 people lost their lives on Tuesday night at the Chengalpattu Government Medical College Hospital in Tamil Nadu, allegedly due to the shortage of oxygen.
According to the reports, 13 patients, aged between 40 to 85, died in quick succession due to the shortage of oxygen at the Chengalpattu Government Medical College Hospital. The sudden death of Covid-19 patients in the DMK-ruled Tamil Nadu has triggered panic among the people in the state. The relatives of the deceased have alleged that a shortage of oxygen had led to the deaths.
However, the hospital authorities have contended that the deaths were not due to a shortfall of lifesaving medical oxygen. Chengalpattu district collector A John Louis denied reports that the deaths were due to oxygen shortage.
“Owing to the increase in the number of infected patients, the GH had to provide 4.5 kl oxygen to the patients yesterday alone as against the daily intake of 2.9 kl. The hospital had adequate (oxygen) stock…Yesterday they had 1.4 kl in the morning, and by evening 5 kl oxygen was refilled. The district administration responded to the request for refill by managing to divert the supplies from three hospitals besides from the government godown,” Louis said.
The hospital has stated that while one patient was Covid positive, the rest of the deceased persons had tested negative, but had other co-morbidities including pneumonia. Some media reports, however, claim that all were Covid patients.
Doctors protests against Oxygen, staff shortage
Meanwhile, doctors of the hospital protested against the state government on Wednesday, demanding more oxygen, more staff. The doctors alleged that healthcare workers were being diverted from their hospital to other areas. Several videos of the hospital have gone viral on social media platforms. In one such video, a woman was seen crying following the death of her husband.
The doctors who participated in the protest said the hospital has been facing oxygen shortage despite having 23 KL capacity tanks. As Covid-19 patients are getting admitted in large numbers, there has been a shortage in oxygen at the hospital for more than a week, the protesting doctor said.
The oxygen stored at the hospital was available for only a few hours on Tuesday noon. Even though the cylinders were immediately used for providing oxygen to the patients, five COVID-19 patients had died by Tuesday evening.
Reportedly, a total of 447 patients are currently admitted at the Chengalpattu government hospital for treatment, out of which 256 are Covid-19 patients. Nearly 191 are suspected to be infected with the virus.
On May 5, Farmer Unions from Punjab have announced that they will hold street protests against Covid-19 lockdown in Punjab on May 8. They have also urged the people of Punjab to defy the lockdown. During a press conference of Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) at the Singhu border protest site, Balbir Singh Rajewal, farmer leader, alleged that the lockdown was imposed to his the failure of the government to control the Covid crisis and to weaken the ongoing farmer protests.
Punjab farmers to hold massive protest against lockdown on May 8 amid rise in Covid cases
He said, “The 32 farmer unions of Punjab have decided to protest against the lockdown on May 8 (in Punjab) where our field workers will come out on streets and ask people to open their shops and not follow the lockdown.” As per reports, farmer leaders will also force the shopkeepers to open shops and defy lockdown.
In his statement, Rajewal claimed that the lockdown is not a solution. Blaming the government for using lockdown to pass the agriculture laws, he said, “The three black farm laws were also made during the lockdown last year. Lockdown is no solution. It only results in losses to the economy and unemployment. This government is just hiding its failures under the garb of lockdown—like how they have failed in providing oxygen, beds and other medical facilities to patients.”
It has to be noted that Punjab has been experiencing a sharp spike in the Covid-19 cases. Extensive restrictions were announced by the Chief Minister to break the chain in addition to a weekend lockdown and night curfew till May 15.
Farmers marching to Delhi from different parts of Punjab
Reports suggest that over a thousand farmers have started marching towards Delhi borders from Beas, which is a town near Amritsar. They will soon join protests. These farmers had assembled at Beas from different villages of Amritsar, Tarn Taran and Gurdaspur districts. Gurbachan Singh Chabba, State Secretary, Kisan Sangharsh Committee, said he, along with other farmer leaders, are heading towards the national capital with many farmers, including children and women.
Reportedly, over 15,000 farmers also marched towards Delhi borders recently to join the protest sites. The SKM leaders have urged people to join the farmers’ protests as the harvesting season is coming to an end soon. Chabba said, “We are asking at least one family member of farmers and farm labourers to come and join us in the protest. We expect a large number of people coming from May 10 onwards.”
Covid crisis in Punjab and its possible connection to farmer protests
It has been reported that the fatality rate due to Covid-19 in Punjab is much higher than the national average. As against national average of 1.1%, the case fatality ration in Punjab is 2.3%. The main reason is believed to the UK variant. Data revealed that the cases surged in the state close to the harvesting season when farmers started to return from the Delhi border for harvesting. Also, the experts believe that the higher number of deaths in rural areas of Punjab are the result of self-medication and hesitation to go to a hospital. The majority of Covid speciality hospitals are getting from rural areas are severe with less hope of survival.
About agriculture laws
In September 2020, the Government of India passed three agriculture laws to remove middleman, provide more selling options including private markets, and improve storage facilities in the country. However, the farmers claimed that the government passed the laws to help corporate. The farmers have been protesting outside Delhi since November.
So far, 11 rounds of talks between the union government and farmers have completed without any solution. The government had offered to suspend the laws for 12-18 months in January, but the union leaders are hell-bent on getting them repealed. To find a solution, the Supreme Court had stayed implementation of the farm laws and formed a committee that had submitted its report.
Thea alleged farmers protesting at borders of the national capital organized a tractor rally on January 26 that turned violent. Recent RTI revealed that over 300 police personnel were injured in the clash between the rioters and security forces. Properties worth crores were damaged.
US Trade Representative Katherine Tai has confirmed that the US will support the waiver of Intellectual Property rights protections on COVID-19 vaccines to help end the pandemic. “We’ll actively participate in WTO negotiations to make that happen,” she added.
The US supports the waiver of IP protections on COVID-19 vaccines to help end the pandemic and we’ll actively participate in WTO negotiations to make that happen: US Trade Representative Katherine Tai
Tai’s statement included, “We will actively participate in text-based negotiations at the World Trade Organization (WTO) needed to make that happen. Those negotiations will take time given the consensus-based nature of the institution and the complexity of the issues involved.”
Tai further stated, ” As our vaccine supply for the American people is secured, the Administration will continue to ramp up its efforts – working with the private sector and all possible partners – to expand vaccine manufacturing and distribution. It will also work to increase the raw materials needed to produce those vaccines.”
Many US lawmakers have praised the move.
It is notable here that a US embargo was until recently preventing the export of critical vaccine raw material to India for the manufacture of Covid vaccines needed by SII and Bharat Biotech. After SII chief Adar Poonawalla’s multiple requests and constant persuasion by the Indian government, the US had recently agreed to make the raw materials available.
India and South Africa had raised the demand for TRIPs waiver at the WTO months back
The decision comes after India and South Africa in an official communication to the WTO on October 2, 2020, had called for TRIPS waiver of certain intellectual property provisions of COVID-19 vaccines. The request was to enable access to life-saving vaccines and therapeutics as soon as possible making them accessible for people in developing countries.
The WHO, vaccine manufacturers, including Adar Poonawalla, the chief of the world’s largest vaccine manufacturing company, and many other organisations have been calling for the developed nations to allow a TRIPs waiver so that the developing world can be provided access to vaccination and medicines needed to fight the pandemic.
Many international organisations, including Doctors Without Borders, have called upon the developed nations to stop wasting time in discussions and bring a change soon. Recently, diplomats of India and South Africa have stated that they are working to make another attempt to push developed nations to support the original proposal submitted by them at the WTO for TRIPs waiver on critical Covid vaccines and medicines for the benefit of developing nations.
Even as recently as March, a proposal by India and South Africa at the WTO for TRIPs waiver for Covid vaccines and medicines was blocked by the US, EU and the United Kingdom, among other nations. Even on April 15, at a virtual meet, Tai had remained non-committed over the proposal by India and South Africa.
US lawmakers come together for #FreeTheVaccine campaign
Additionally, over a 100 US lawmakers have written to President Joe Biden urging him to support India’s proposal to the WTO to temporarily lift certain intellectual property barriers initiating the #FreeTheVaccine campaign. If the barriers are lifted, it will allow India and other developing countries to locally manufacture COVID-19 diagnostics and vaccines.
The Senators in the letter endorsed the temporary lifting of restrictions of intellectual property barriers and observed that the waiver is being supported by more than a 100 nations.
The lawmakers emphasized that the globalised economy cannot recover if only parts of the world are vaccinated.
Amidst the Covid-19 crisis in India, a new claim has been made by a Maulvi in Dinajpur, Bangladesh. In an undated video shared by journalist Swati Goel Sharma of Swarajya Magazine, a Maulvi was heard blaming Yati Narsinghanand Saraswati for the Covid-19 surge in India.
Friendly message from Bangladesh:
-Corona pandemic and the many deaths and cremations in India is because of ‘blasphemy’ by Narsinghanand
-Hindus, do tauba otherwise your dead bodies won’t be cremated but eaten by cheel-kawwe
The video appeared to be of some Friday as he mentioned they had gathered after Friday prayers. He said, “We are ready to sacrifice our lives for our Prophet. Muslims around the world can tolerate anything, but they will not tolerate anything against the Prophet. We want to tell the Delhi Government that the reason behind so many deaths in Delhi leaving no space for cremation is Hindutvawadi.”
While claiming that derogatory comments against Islam and Prophet are the main reason behind the pandemic, he added, “Hindus, there is still time. Ask Prophet for forgiveness. Otherwise, you will not find space for cremation and vultures and hyenas will eat your dead bodies. If you want liberation from rebirth, read Kalma and become Muslim.”
About Yati Narsinghanand Saraswati
Hindu priest Yati Narsinghanand Saraswati had allegedly criticized Prophet Muhammad during a press meet. As a result, several Muslim community leaders, including Aam Aadmi Party’s Amanatullah Khan, called for action against him including his beheading.
The members of Muslim community around the world are currently observing the holy month of Ramzan.
Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) chief and former Union minister Chaudhary Ajit Singh died due to Covid-19 on Thursday.
The 82-year-old RLD chief Ajit Singh was admitted to a private hospital in Gurugram after his health deteriorated due to a lung infection on Tuesday. In April, Ajit Singh had tested positive for the Covid-19. His condition worsened and passed away on Thursday.
Jayant Chaudhary, the son of Ajit Singh took to Twitter to announce the death of his father. “Chaudhary Ajit Singh ji was diagnosed as Covid positive on April 20. He battled his condition till the very end and breathed his last today morning,” Jayant Chaudhary said.
The seven-time MP from Baghpat – Ajit Singh was the son of former Prime Minister Chaudhary Charan Singh. Prior to his political career, Ajit Singh, an alumnus of the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur and Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago, had worked in the United States before returning to the country to start his political career.
Ajit Singh was first elected to Rajya Sabha in 1986. Later, he represented the Baghpat constituency seven times in Lok Sabha. His party RLD has a strong influence in Jat-dominated western Uttar Pradesh.
Ajit Singh also worked as the Union Minister of Industry in the VP Singh government. Later, he joined the PV Narasimha Rao government but resigned from the Congress in 1996. Ajit Singh then formed RLD and joined the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government as Agriculture Minister in 2001. He was part of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government till May 2003. He also served as the Union Minister of Civil Aviation.
Recently, Ajit Singh came into prominence after he had extended his support to the so-called farmer protests in the country. His party RLD had supported violent agitators who had not only blocked national highways to Delhi but also stormed into the national capital to unleash riots on Republic Day.
It is now quite an established fact that Aam Aadmi Party has a complicated relationship with facts and logic. The agents of chaos in charge of Delhi would blame everyone but themselves for any crisis that befalls them. Except, this time, people are dying because of the sheer incompetence and zero coordination efforts from the Arvind Kejriwal government.
The oxygen crisis in Delhi reached such level that the Delhi High Court as well as Supreme Court have been regularly holding hearings to try and get matter sorted. While the oxygen crisis has hit almost every state of India, Delhi in particular seems to worst hit.
Amid all this, Delhi Government’s Raghav Chadha, a Chartered Accountant by education, took to social media to give logic defying calculations with respect to cryogenic tanks.
देश में 1631 Cryogenic Tankers है जो 8500 MT OXYGEN Carry करते है जबकि इनकी क्षमता 23000 MT OXYGEN Carry करने की है।
जिस तरह से केंद्र सरकार Oxygen का आवंटन कर रही है, उसी तरह से इन Cryogenic Tankers का भी आवंटन होना चाहिए! pic.twitter.com/x0vBERwrX6
Filled with background music as if Chadha is giving some sensational input, Aam Aadmi Party put up a video which claimed that there are 1631 cryogenic tanks in India. He said that total production of liquid medical oxygen is 8,500 MT. He then claims that these tankers have actual capacity to carry 23,000 MT oxygen but are used only for ferrying 8,500 MT liquid medical oxygen.
“In our country, there is no scarcity of cryogenic tanks,” he claims. Chadha claims that other state governments have full control over these these tanks. “These cryogenic tanks should be national property and the way central government is distributing oxygen, it should distribute the tanks,” he said in the video. He eventually concluded the video with the demands of cryogenic tanks.
As AAP’s demands went from ‘oxygen’ to ‘cryogenic tanks’, netizens took it upon themselves to give the basic calculations to Chadha.
Looks like maths for this tweet advised by Priyanka C
How hard to understand this that about half of the total tankers return back empty for refill. And many tankers take more than 24 hrs due to long distance
जैसे दस टैंकर है तो 5 खाली होकर वापस रिफिल के लिए जाएंगे और 5 डिलीवरी
As this Twitter user pointed out, many of these tankers ply empty to the source of oxygen to be refilled before it can ply again with oxygen to required destination. Moreover, many of these tankers take over 24 hours for one-way journey because of long distances they have to cover. It is not that the tankers can teleport in an instant.
Half the tankers used to carry oxygen & when after delivering they return remaining half sent, if all used at once there will be huge time gap between deliveries.
AAPiyas should stick to advertisement than trying to give gyaan on other things which they don’t understand at all
Some even pointed out that if all tankers were to ply at same time with oxygen, with none returning to source for refilling, there will be a huge lag in deliveries.
इसके घर में 1 ही LPG सिलिंडर है। जब वो खत्म हो जाता है तब ये सिलिंडर बदलने गोदाम जाता है। लेकिन खाना फिर भी पकता रहता है? आधे क्रायोजेनिक टैंकर जब डिलीवरी दे रहे होते हैं तब आधे टैंकर डिलीवरी देकर रिफिलिंग कर रहे होते हैं डिलीवरी के लिए। इस प्रकार चलती है सप्लाई। https://t.co/KsnOZi8ush
A Twitter user also explained in simpler terms on how the calculation Chadha provided was devoid of any logic. “If you have 1 LPG cylinder in your house and when gas is over, it goes to the godown for refilling. But does the food continue to cook without gas?” he questioned.
Over past few days, as Delhi choked, the oxygen crisis in the national capital has seem to have spiralled out of control.
Firstly, after Centre allotted oxygen to Delhi, Kejriwal government had failed to arrange for the specialised cryogenic tanks required to transport the same to hospitals.
April 24 – Delhi not collaborating for oxygen
Delhi High Court pulled up Delhi government and told them they could not have everything served to them on platter and asked them to do everything they could.
Soon, Kejriwal took to Twitter to announce that he will write to all Chief Ministers of states to request them for cryogenic tanks.
I am writing to all CMs requesting them to provide oxygen to Delhi, if they have spare. Though Central govt. is also helping us, the severity of corona is such that all available resources are proving inadequate.
He put up the message on Twitter on what he would do before he actually does it, because whether he works or not, it must appear that he is working.
Next day, newspapers were filled with Arvind Kejriwal’s ads where he had appealed to individuals if they have spare cryogenic tanks they could give to Delhi government.
Cryogenic tanks ad
These ads appeared in all regional newspapers in regional languages. It must be noted that cryogenic tanks are superspecial tanks and as Raghav Chadha himself mentioned, only 1631 tanks all over India. So clearly, an individual like you and I is very very unlikely to have a cryogenic tank just parked in their backyard as a spare to offer it to Kejriwal.
Perhaps Kejriwal could have written to chief ministers of states, who are likely to have details of such super special vehicles in their states? Considering just 1631 of them are here? But no, Kejriwal would put out an advertisement, giving money to newspapers, to let general public at large know that he does not have tankers and if anyone has, they could give. I’m sure he knows better. But how else will he give advertisements in papers without coming under scanner for giving out advertisements amid COVID crisis?
Had it not been this tragic and had people not been dying because of lack of oxygen, this farce by Kejriwal would have been called out in harshest terms. Here it just appears that ‘at least he is trying’ and basic decency stops one from calling it out.
Further, data has revealed that while Delhi govt continues to demand more oxygen, its demand is four times the actual consumption of Mumbai, which has similar number of active COVID cases.
According to AAP leaders, Delhi has been demanding 700 MT of oxygen per day during the last fortnight of April, and its demand went up to 976 MT per day from 29th April. On that day, Delhi Deputy CM wrote to the union govt demanding 976 MT oxygen per day. Delhi had active case load of 97,977 on that day. On the same day, Mumbai consumed 225 MT oxygen for 61,433 active cases. If we go by Mumbai’s average O₂ for that day, Delhi should need around 360 MT. According to the Delhi govt, they received 400 MT of oxygen on that day, which means they received more oxygen than the consumption by Mumbai.
Amidst all this, one feels that if Aam Aadmi Party leaders focus on resolving the oxygen crisis instead of overusing their tiny brains for absurd calculations, they could perhaps save a few lives.
On May 4, The Carter Center, a non-governmental, not-for-profit organization founded in 1982 by former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, posted a photograph with the US President, his wife and the Carters. In the picture, First Lady Jill Biden was kneeling next to 96-years-old Jimmy Carter while President Joe Biden was kneeling next to 93-years-old Rosalynn Carter. But in the images, Joe Biden and Jill Biden seemed disproportionately bigger in size compared to Jimmy Carter and Rosalynn Carter.
As soon as the photograph made it to social media, the netizens were baffled to see the difference between the body size of Bidens and Carters.
We’re pleased to share this wonderful photo from the @POTUS and @FLOTUS visit to see the Carters in Plains, Ga.!
— ? Deonardo La Vinci ? (@DeonardoLeVinci) May 4, 2021
This shows you how distorted this picture is from the lens and the flash. This was a quick and dirty fix in Photoshop, but it’s closer to actual sizes, look at the white area on the edges, you can see how it was distorted. pic.twitter.com/BGfxC84O1R
— Dr. Linda #CharacterWins #NationalPopularVote laws (@gossamerLL) May 4, 2021
Why do The Carter’s look like miniatures?! They are amazing wonderful people ??The proportions here are off somehow. Who else agrees?!
Having the privilege of being a professional photographer and a Multimedia graduate, I would like to take the liberty to explain the science behind the distorted photograph in the simplest possible way.
Is poor editing behind the distortion in the photograph?
No, in fact, the photograph has not been edited at all in terms of dimensions or angles. The person who uploaded the picture on social media either did no editing and uploaded it SOTC (Straight Out Of the Camera) or did minor colour corrections before uploading it. No major retouching has been done on the photograph.
So what is the reason behind the distortion?
As simple as it can get, the reason is the lens. The person who clicked the photograph used a wide-angle lens. The room in which they are sitting seems to be a smaller room. In such cases, photographers often use a wide-angle lens to fit everyone in a single frame as they have to click photograph from a close distance. Though wide-angle lens help achieve the objective, after a certain point (for technically savvy people in terms of photography, under 18mm focal length), the outer edges begin to warp or bend. Also, a strong flash seems to have added to the optical illusion. Flash, when bounced at the subjects often kill the natural shadow in a small confined room that adds up to the illusion.
Here are a few examples that you can easily find on the internet.
Image by David Mark from Pixabay
Image by photochur from Pixabay
Image by Hjörleifur Sveinbjörnsson from Pixabay
Image by jplenio from Pixabay
Is there any way to fix it?
If you are not familiar with photo editing software, you better find a place where you can click the photograph without switching to a wide-angle lens. For technically savvy people, the focal length of 50mm on a full-frame camera and 35mm on a crop frame camera would be ideal for portraits and family photographs. While using flash in confined spaces, it is better to bounce it at the roof rather than bouncing it towards the subject.
For those who are a little bit familiar with photo editing software like Photoshop, such photographs can be fixed by spending little time on the wrapped edged. In Adobe Photoshop, there is a tool called Adaptive Wide Angle Lens that can fix it quickly. Alternatively, one can use online tools like photo-kako to fix the image online.
According to CNN-News18 quoting Harayana Police sources, a young girl who died of Covid-19 in Delhi was allegedly molested at the Farmer’s protest on the Tikri border and she had filed a molestation complaint. The girl was taken to Civil Hospital in Bahadurgarh after she exhibited COVID-19 symptoms on April 26, 2021.
Row over a girl allegedly molested at Tikri border, Delhi.
In an interview with CNN-News18, Farmer leader Mandeep Nathwani made it clear that he is aware of the situation, but stated that the protest leaders are still investigating the issue on their end. Nathwani said in the interview that according to the information given to him, the girl in question had died from COVID-19.
“We are constantly in touch with the big leaders of Sanyukta Morcha, and we are maintaining a constant vigil trying to find out what actually happened to the girl”, said Nathwani in the interview. He said that it is not clear whether the girl was actually raped or not, and it needed to be ascertained.
Speculation has arisen from this interview that this anonymous girl in question might in fact be the 25-year old woman from West Bengal, who had died of complications from COVID-19 at the Tikri border just a few days ago. This speculation is corroborated by the fact that the girl in question and the woman from Bengal were both admitted to a hospital in Bahadurgarh for COVID-related symptoms on April 26.
However, CNN-News18’s reporting mentions the girl being admitted to Civil Hospital, Bahadurgarh whereas reports regarding the woman from Bengal states that she was admitted in a private hospital. Therefore, this speculation is merely just speculation at the time. According to the CNN-News18 report, the Haryana Police is currently ascertaining more facts and is currently investigating.
