Gujarat: Over 80 held for participating in 'anti-coronavirus' religious procession
What's the story
More than 80 people were arrested after a social media video showed them participating in a religious procession for performing a ritual to "protect" their village from the scourge of coronavirus in Prantij taluka of Gujarat's Sabarkantha district, police said on Tuesday. Over a hundred people from Lalpur village took out the procession on May 22, a local police official said.
Incident
Procession was followed by a ritual to ward off coronavirus
The villagers took out the procession to perform a ritual with a belief that it will "prevent coronavirus" from affecting their village, the official added. He also said that some members of the procession beat drums while others, including women, carried a "Kalash" or a small pot filled with sacred water on their heads.
FIR
FIR registered against 28 identified and a hundred unidentified people
Police came to know about the incident on Monday after a video went viral on social media, Prantij police inspector PL Vaghela said. "We have registered an FIR against 28 identified and a hundred unidentified people for participating in the procession in violation of the government's notification regarding the coronavirus pandemic. We arrested 83 people in the last two days," the inspector said.
Case
A case was registered against all participants of the procession
A case was registered against all participants, under the provisions of the Epidemic Diseases Act, the Disaster Management Act, and under Section 188 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant) of the Indian Penal Code, he said. Two similar incidents took place in Gujarat this month where villagers gathered in large numbers to perform rituals that they believed could send the virus away.
Third time
Two other similar incidents have taken place in Gujarat
Earlier in the month, police had arrested 46 people for taking out a religious procession at a village in Gandhinagar district to "eradicate coronavirus." A video showed 100 men and women, many without masks, participating in the procession. A few days before this, over 500 women had gathered in Navapura village of Ahmedabad in a similar bid. Around 23 people were later arrested.