Pregnant Woman Accused Of Spreading COVID-19, Made To Clean Blood: Report

The woman reportedly said she was asked to wipe her blood.

Days after a pregnant woman in Jharkhand was accused of spreading coronavirus and was reportedly made to cleean up blood by a hospital in the steel city of Jamshedpur, the National Commission for Women has taken note of the incident and demanded strict action against those responsible. The woman eventually lost her unborn child after she was turned away by the hospital.

"A woman pregnant & bleeding, came to a Jamshedpur hospital, was allegedly asked to clean up her blood, accused of spreading coronavirus, which led to loss of her unborn child. NCW has written to Chief Secretary @JharkhandCMO for strict action," the women's rights body tweeted on Sunday.

The Indian Express reported that 30-year-old Rizwana Khatun had written to Chief Minister Hemant Soren, narrating her ordeal on Thursday when she was rushed to a hospital in Jamshedpur after she started bleeding. The women reportedly said she was abused because of her religion and that she was asked to wipe her blood.

Its unfortunate to learn the insensitiveness of the health professionals as alleged in the media report, and during the challenging times like COVID19 pandemic, NCW apprises the govt. to implement proper institutional delivery to avoid the recurrence of such incidents in future.

— NCW (@NCWIndia) April 19, 2020

"It's unfortunate to learn the insensitiveness of the health professionals as alleged in the media report, and during the challenging times like COVID19 pandemic, NCW apprises the govt. to implement proper institutional delivery to avoid the recurrence of such incidents in future," the National Commission for Women said in another tweet.

Over 17,000 coronavirus cases, including 543 deaths, have been reported from across India as of Monday morning. Jharkhand has seen 42 cases including two deaths.

(With inputs from PTI)