April 29th, India’s current pandemic situation is serious, oxygen and other medical resources are scarce. According to Indian media reports, an Indian man sought oxygen on Twitter, and police concluded after an investigation that it was not his real purpose and arrested him for “inciting emotions and fear.”
India’s The Print News Network reported on the 29th, the incident occurred in Uttar Pradesh, India, Amity. Indian man Yadav 26, tweeted for help, for his 88-year-old relatives to find oxygen: “Need oxygen tanks, the sooner the better.” The next day, Ilani, an Indian federal minister from Amity, said she had contacted Yadav several times about the phone number she had left behind, but had not been answered and had informed local officials and the police to help him.
“He didn’t answer the phone, so we thought he was having trouble. We used surveillance to locate him and find his home, where he was sleeping. “His aim was to stir up emotions and fear, ” said a police official. ”
Local police said Yadav was looking for oxygen for distant relatives, but the patient was not infected with the coronavirus, did not need oxygen, and ultimately died of cardiac arrest, “sending this tweet is not only reprehensible, but also a crime.” Yadav did not mention in his tweet that relatives were infected with the new virus, the report said.
Under the Outbreak Act, the police launched an investigation into Yadav, who was arrested and taken to the police station where he was questioned and released shortly afterwards. Dube, the local chief medical officer, said afterwards that Yadav’s relatives had tested positive for Coronavirus and were being treated and that the cause of death was not lack of oxygen.
Uttar Pradesh, one of India’s worst-affected areas, has been criticised for downplaying the risks of the outbreak, the BBC reported. He demanded that anyone who spread the rumours be deprived of their property, insisting that all local hospitals were not short of oxygen, even though the health system was already overwhelmed.
