Bengaluru: In a video that went viral on social media platforms, a teenager was seen being brutally thrashed by Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) officials for apparently not cooperating when asked to get tested for COVID-19. The civic body confirmed, while maintaining anonymity regarding the accused officials, that the incident took place at Nagarathpet testing booth in the city.
In the video, a young boy wearing a blue t-shirt could be seen being overpowered by two officials after he reportedly mistook a COVID testing line for the vaccination queue. As he tried to defend himself, the officials started beating him up, almost hitting his head on the table.
#WATCH | In a viral video, a man was seen being assaulted by a BBMP booth level officer after he mistook a queue for #COVID19 testing to be that for vaccination. He was allegedly assaulted when he refused to undergo test. FIR registered under multiple sections of IPC. pic.twitter.com/v3ZybEYFLT
— ANI (@ANI) May 24, 2021
While a couple of passersby tried to intervene and stop the assault, officials sitting near the table seemed reluctant to take any step to stop the officials from beating up the man.
Reacting to the incident, BBMP Commissioner Gaurav Gupta said that an inquiry would be conducted to find out what led to such forceful action. “We regret the incident at Nagarathpet testing booth. There’s no question of forceful testing. We condemn any physical altercation that happened. An inquiry would be conducted to find out what led to this, who is responsible and also to prevent any such recurrence,” he told ANI.
We regret the incident at Nagarathpet testing booth. There is no question of forceful testing.
We condemn any physical altercation that has happened. Enquiry would be conducted to find out what led to this, who is responsible, and also to prevent any such recurrence.— Gaurav Gupta,IAS (@BBMPCOMM) May 24, 2021
The incident caused fury among netizens who questioned why the boy was being forced to take the COVID-19 test when he had no symptoms of the viral infection. The video brought to light the high-handed attitude of some civic officials who use their authority for abuse.
A similar incident was reported in Chhattisgarh on Saturday where Surajpur District Collector Ranbir Sharma was seen slapping a man and smashing his phone to the ground for being out on the road. In a video that went viral on social media, the District Collector was seen slapping a man after he attempted to show him a piece of paper and explain why he was outside during the lockdown. Sharma then throws the man’s phone and is heard saying “maaro ise”, asking the accompanying policemen to beat him.