cops

Indian Penal Code

IPC

Deenanath Mangeshkar Hospital

Mohammed Shaikh

The ongoing lockdown threw up an unforeseen challenge for 31-year-old Nabila Shaikh. The woman from Camp was on her way back to her home to collect her debit card after hospitalising her sister-in-law, a cancer patient, when she was stopped by patrolling cops. She was taken to Lashkar police station, where she was made to spend four harrowing hours trying to explain to the officials as to why she was out on the street, she claimed. Even after repeated efforts on her part to put forth her point, Shaikh was booked under sections 269 (negligent act likely spreading infection dangerous to life) and 188 (disobeying order by public servant) of the). It was only when her brother, who is also on dialysis, showed up at the police station and appealed to the cops to let her go was she allowed to leave, she said.Following a spike in the number of coronavirus-positive cases, the civic body had issued an order to seal areas and a strict curfew was imposed across the city. However, essential services have remained operational and people facing medical emergency are allowed to visit hospitals.According to Nabila, however, her brother’s wife had to be dropped atfor her third chemotherapy session on Monday. After the treatment under Dr Chetan Deshmukh started, Shaikh left for her home to collect some cash and her debit card.She said that when she reached Camp around 9 am, a squad of Lashkar police stopped her near Pulgate chowk. Although she asked her sister-in-law to send a copy of the hospital admission papers on WhatsApp, police took her to the station, she complained.Beside sections 269 and 188 of the IPC, cops reportedly booked her under relevant sections of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, for not having her driving licence.After an FIR was registered against her, she was given a notice under the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) and asked her to be seated at the station, she alleged. Finally, she called her brother, who is suffering from kidney ailment and underwent a surgery a few days ago, to come and rescue her. Mohammed has a neck catheter and an arteriovenous fistula in his hand and has been advised to be on bed rest by the doctors, but still had to show up at the police station to mediate the situation, she added.Talking to Mirror, the woman said, “I had the commuters’ pass with the QR code, but it was on my brother’s name and had expired a couple of days ago. I told the cops on duty that it was a hospital emergency. I showed them the valid papers from the hospital and also told them that I applied for a new QR code, which is under process. However, the officers were not ready to listen.”“I was falsely implicated and verbally abused by the officers. When my brother reached the station around 10.30 am, he too was ill-treated,” she added.“We were harassed unnecessarily by the cops,” alleged the brother. Cops, on their part, have stated that Nabila misbehaved with the officials on duty. Senior police inspector Chandrakant Bhosale, attached to Lashkar police station, said, “She was carrying her brother’s expired QR code and arguing with the cops on duty.”“The cops have issued a fresh QR code for me by evening, but the FIR against me remains,” the woman said later.When Mirrorcontacted the hospital management, authorities confirmed that they have admitted Shaikh’s sister-in-law in the general ward for chemotherapy.