Amid strict lockdown due to COVID-19 pandemic, a video of a vegetable vendor refusing to sell to women of the minority community, purportedly from Indore in Madhya Pradesh, has gone viral on social media during the past two days causing huge uproar.
However, despite several tags to the police and administrative officials over social media posts, no steps have been initiated yet to either verify the video or take any action.
By the look of the locality and the license plates of the vehicles seen in the video, several social media users identified it as from Sikh Mohalla (Mewati Mohalla) of Indore. Social media users pointed out that the action of the vegetable vendor was clearly violative of constitution and also could lead to communal tensions, while demanding strict action against the vendor.
When THE WEEK contacted the Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of Police of Indore, Harinarayan Chari Mishra in the matter, he said that the video had not come to his notice yet. He sought the video and after receiving it, said that he will look into the matter and direct if any action is to be taken.
In the video, the vendor is seen telling women who are enquiring vegetable rates from him that he will not sell to Muslims as “this will lead to my shop closing down”. He then dares the person shooting the video to properly document him by pulling down the mask he is wearing. He keeps repeating that he will not sell to the minority community and that anyone could get complaint registered anywhere against him.
Positive cases nears 1,100 in MP, 700 in Indore
Meanwhile, with as many as 285 cases reported during the past two days in Indore, the tally of COVID-19 positives in Madhya Pradesh has reached 1,090. Of these, as many as 696 positive cases belong to Indore alone.
Indore has also reported two more deaths, according to the chief medical and health officer Dr Praveen Jadia, taking the toll to 39. The total COVID-19 deaths in Madhya Pradesh now stand at 55, with six deaths from Ujjain and five from Bhopal. These three cities are among six in Madhya Pradesh identified by the Union government as COVID-19 hotspots. The other three are Morena, Khargone and Hoshangabad.
According to the state health department bulletin, the total positive cases stood at 938 on Wednesday evening. However, 152 more were identified in Indore as positive later on Wednesday and on Thursday morning, taking the tally to 1,090.
Watch the video here: