Doctor in India’s Maharashtra Booked Over Alleged Call to Kill Muslim COVID-19 Patient

Doctor in India’s Maharashtra Booked Over Alleged Call to Kill Muslim COVID-19 Patient
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Four years after a controversial audio clip surfaced, Dr. Shashikant Deshpande, former additional district surgeon at Udgir Government Hospital in Maharashtra’s Latur District, has been booked by police for allegedly asking a colleague to kill a female Muslim COVID-19 patient, Kausar Fatima Dayami, Clarion India reported.

In the viral recording from 2021, Dr. Deshpande is heard instructing Dr. Shashikant Dange to “just kill that Dayami woman,” while Dange mentions reducing oxygen support. Fatima tested positive for COVID-19 on April 15, 2021, was hospitalized, and subsequently recovered and discharged after ten days.

Fatima’s husband, Dayami Ajimoddin Gaussoddin, who overheard the conversation, filed a complaint after the clip resurfaced on social media. He also accused Dr. Deshpande of making casteist and religiously offensive remarks, causing emotional distress.

The FIR includes charges of deliberate acts to outrage religious feelings. Police have seized Deshpande’s phone and summoned him for recording statements as investigations continue.