WATCH | Kochi man carries father on shoulders after vehicle stopped from plying amid lockdown

KOLLAM: A man was forced to carry his aged father, who was discharged from the hospital, on his shoulders for 100 metres after the police stopped his autorickshaw for not possessing the self-declaration form.

A video of autorickshaw driver Roy carrying his 89-year-old father on his shoulders went viral, with social media users criticising the police for the misuse of power.

The incident happened on Wednesday morning when Roy, a native of Kulathupuzha, was on his way to bring back his father George from the Punalur Taluk Hospital.

Some 500 metres away from the hospital, the policemen stopped Roy and asked for self-declaration form in view of the lockdown restrictions.

#WATCH Kerala: A person carried his 65-year-old ailing father in Punalur & walked close to one-kilometre after the autorickshaw he brought to take his father back from the hospital was allegedly stopped by Police, due to #CoronavirusLockdown guidelines. (15.4) pic.twitter.com/I03claE1XO

— ANI (@ANI) April 16, 2020

Roy did not have it and the policemen refused to allow him further though he told them about his ailing father. “The policemen didn’t allow the autorickshaw to proceed because the driver didn’t have relevant documents to travel during lockdown,” said a senior officer.

Hosp authorities come up with clarification

Roy walked towards the hospital after parking his vehicle under a tree. At the same time, hospital authorities came up with a clarification. “The hospital CCTV visuals showed the man and his parents boarding an autorickshaw in the hospital compound. We later contacted Roy and he too told us that they left the hospital in an autorickshaw.

But when its driver saw policemen on the road, he asked them to get down. Since his vehicle was lying some 100 metres away, he carried his father on his shoulders till his vehicle,” said the hospital superintendent. George was admitted to the hospital on April 12 with urinary infection. The Kerala State Human Rights Commission has asked the Kollam Rural SP to file a report on the incident within three weeks.