FIR filed against doctor in Maharashtra for hurting religious sentiments in audio clip during Covid treatment

CHHATRAPATI SAMBHAJINAGAR: The Udgir police have registered an FIR related to hurting religious feelings against a govt hospital doctor in Latur during treatment of a woman patient at a Covid care center during the pandemic in 2021."The woman recovered from Covid treatment then. We are verifying the authenticity of the audio clip and the doctor concerned is cooperating with our investigation by visiting the police station as and when required," Latur's superintendent of police (SP) Somay Munde told TOI on Thursday. "We are also focusing on why the audio clip has surfaced almost five years after the alleged incident," he further added.The case has been registered under sections 116 an 295-A for abetment of offence and deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs and punishment related to this offence.According to the FIR, the purported audio clip between the doctor and another person is about conversation regarding oxygen availability and bed availability with the treatment facility and remarks about the community represented by the woman Covid patient.Latur's Congress MP Shivaji Kalge said the police must carry out the probe from all angles. "I am also a doctor by profession and understand that no doctor wants his or her patient to be harmed. However, if the conversation in question is real, then it is a serious matter and it will be definetily be addressed," he told TOI.Inspector Dilip Gade of the Udgir police told TOI, "We registered the FIR based on a complaint lodged by the woman's husband."