In a shocking development, the state of Kerala had witnessed an embarrassment through an appalling incident where the ambulance driver had raped a 19-year-old woman while transporting the latter to the COVID-19 care center after she was tested positive for the global pandemic. 

The incident happened on the late-night hours on Saturday in the Pathanamthitta district. According to the reports, the driver, Noufal, had picked up the 19-year-old from Adoor along with the 40-year-old woman who also tested positive for the viral infection. The 19-year-old was to be admitted to the COVID-19 treatment center at Pandalam while the 40-year-old was to be taken to the center in Aranmula in the same district.  

Pandalam sits on the route to Aranmula from Adoor, where the driver picked up the women. However, the driver drove the ambulance directly to Aranmula without stopping at Pandalam, where he should drop the 19-year-old woman. He directly went to Aranmula and dropped the 40-year-old and drove back to Pandalam with the 19-year-old in the ambulance. On his way, he allegedly stopped the ambulance at a deserted place and assaulted and raped the 19-year-old following which he had taken her to the COVID-19 care center. 

The police department said that before he dropped off the woman at Pandalam, he asked an apology to the 19-year-old and told her not to speak about the incident. However, the affected woman had recorded the conversation and told the hospital staff about the incident after which the crime came to light. The matter went to the attention of the police department. 

The police had arrested Noufal, the ambulance driver, and filed a case against him. It came to the revelation that the arrested driver has a case of attempted murder pending against him since 2019. The police said that he hasn't acquired the mandatory clearance certificate before joining as a driver with the state health department's ambulance service. The reports say that the affected woman is now doing stable. 

The incident had sparked massive outrage from the political parties and the Kerala Human Rights Commission and Kerala Women's Commission have directed the police to disclose the report on the action taken on the crime. The chairperson of the Women's panel and CPI(M) leader said that the people with a criminal record should not have been employed for the COVID-19 duty. The chairperson further said that women patients    require special protection while being taken to the hospital. 

According to the state health department, for the patients who were stable, the driver is the only person who carries them to the hospital, and for the patients who are in serious conditions, the drivers would be accompanied by the nurse and this mechanism has been in place to limit the exposure of health care workers to the infected people. In this case, the driver was the only person as both the women are stable. 

Kerala Health Minister KK Shailaja said that it is a shocking incident and the GVK Emergency Management and Research Institute, which operates the ambulance service was asked to take action. However, the opposition parties have demanded the state government to make the reason, why a person with a criminal background was put on COVID-19 duty, public. The reports say that GVK Emergency has removed the driver from service and a police complaint has been filed against him.