French Tourists in Assam Loaded onto Truck Like Cattle amid Corona Scare, Authorities Slammed

Nagaon, March 17, 2020:

Amid the surging number of deaths due to the deadly coronavirus pandemic, the world community has been stricken by fear, and the fear has at times driven humanity to the backseat. The mistreatment of French tourists in Assam's Nagaon district, where the locals are on edge due to fears of an outbreak, is testimony the fact that the corona seems to be bringing out the worst in some.

Three tourists who had come from Paris in France were intercepted by the local authorities at the Borghat bypass in Nagaon after the local authorities were alerted to their presence. The tourists had reportedly cycled all the way from Paris and were on a cycling expedition when their sojourn was unceremoniously interrupted by the red-eyed officials of the Assam Police. After an initial screening with thermal devices, they were dumped into filthy vehicles like livestock by the authorities. The Assam authorities then took the three tourists to the Bhogeswari Phukanani Civil Hospital for a screening process.

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One of the tourists, Alexei, informed that the trio had visited Kaziranga, and they were headed back to Guwahati when they were nabbed by police and loaded onto the backs of the mini-truck.

Now, many organizations have condemned the authorities of Nagaon for treating the tourists like livestock. The Nagaon chapter of the Asom Jatiyatabadi Yuba Chhatra Parishad (AJYCP), a prominent organization from Assam, has decried the callousness with which the guests were treated, and demanded the Government to take stringent action against the perpetrators at the earliest.

"The incident that happened in Borghat is a most shameful, unfortunate, and disappointing incident for Assam. The 3 came here as tourists via cycling from Paris in France. The came here as cyclists, but if the Assam authorities suspected that they are carriers of coronavirus, they should not have taken them in a mini-truck to the hospital. Perhaps they did not reckon that this could be a catastrophic move keeping in view international norms", said an AJYCP leader, slamming the local authorities.

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Meanwhile, the Governments have adopted a stern approach to containing the pandemic, amid several reports of people running away to escape being screened for the deadly pandemic. The Government in Maharashtra, where at least 39 cases have been reported, has not started stamping people who have been put in home isolation, and they have been warned that breaking the isolation will count as a serious offense. The coronavirus has resulted in a mass panic and resulted in a mad scramble to stock up on masks, hand sanitizers, and other 'anti-corona' supplies.

These incidents have been reported in the midst of skyrocketing number of infections across the globe. So far, 7,477 deaths have been recorded so far in the world, with 3 of those being from India.

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