Maharashtra man beaten to death on suspicion of being Coronavirus patient

• The men suspected him of being a COVID-19 patient and attacked him, causing him to fall into a gutter and die, the official said.
• Maharashtra remained the worst-hit state in India with a total number of cases rising to 6,430, followed by Gujarat which reported 2,624 cases and Delhi which has reported 2,376 cases.

A 34-year-old man was allegedly attacked on suspicion of being a COVID-19 patient and died after falling into a gutter during the assault in Kalyan town of Maharashtra's Thane district, police said on Friday.

The incident took place on Wednesday morning when Ganesh Gupta had stepped out of his home to purchase some essentials amid the COVID-19 lockdown, an official said.

On noticing some policemen manning the street, the victim took an alternate route, where a few passersby assaulted him after he coughed while walking, he said.

The men suspected him of being a COVID-19 patient and attacked him, causing him to fall into a gutter and die, the official said.

The deceased's body was sent for post-mortem, and a case of accidental death has been registered as of now, the station house officer of the Khadakpada police station said.

A 22-year-old man was allegedly beaten to death in Delhi

This hasn't happened for the first time in India. Earlier, a 22-year-old man was allegedly beaten to death in Delhi's Bawana after he was suspected of a conspiracy to spread COVID-19, police said on Wednesday. The victim has been identified as Mehboob Ali, a resident of Harewali village in Bawana, they said.

Police said Ali had gone to Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh for a Tablighi Jamaat conference and returned to the national capital in a truck of vegetables after 45 days. He was held at the Azadpur vegetable market and released after a medical examination.

Police said when he reached his village; rumours spread that Ali had a plan to spread coronavirus.

He was thrashed in the fields on Sunday. He was rushed to a hospital by police where he died, a senior police officer said.

A month into the nation-wide lockdown, the total number of COVID-19 cases in the country mounted to 23,077 as on Friday (April 24), according to the Union Health Ministry data.

Of the total cases, 17,610 are active cases, 4,748 people have recovered, and 718 people have succumbed to the disease. Around 1,684 fresh cases were reported in the last 24 hours.

Maharashtra remained the worst-hit state with a total number of cases rising to 6,430, followed by Gujarat which reported 2,624 cases and Delhi which has reported 2,376 cases.

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