After the arrest of a YouTuber, allegedly following a video he made highlighting the poor condition of an Auxiliary Nurse and Midwife (ANM) centre in Sultanpur district, Samajwadi Party (SP) president Akhilesh Yadav slammed the BJP government in the State for “continuously attacking democracy and promoting dictatorship”.
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“The arrest of YouTuber journalist Lalit Yadav for showing the truth about the ANM centre in Sultanpur district is proof that talk of zero tolerance against corruption is meaningless. The BJP government in Uttar Pradesh is attacking democracy and promoting dictatorship. There are constant attacks on the autonomy of constitutional institutions and freedom of expression,” said the SP president and former U.P. CM.
Mr. Yadav, a resident of Sultanpur, was arrested after a nurse at the ANM centre complained of assault and misbehaviour by the YouTuber while filming the video which purportedly shows the poor conditions and lapses at the centre. Mr. Yadav is heard saying that doctors are nowhere to be seen at the facility which opened six months ago and pointing at dog excreta in the building. The video, which has gone viral, also shows a woman hitting Mr. Yadav with a stick and slippers, and trying to snatch the microphone from him.
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Police registered a case under sections 384 (extortion), 353 (assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty), 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace), 354 (assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of Indian Penal Code (IPC). In her complaint, the ANM nurse has said that Mr. Yadav misbehaved with her and entered with an illegal weapon.
A countercase was also registered on a complaint by Mr. Yadav against the nurse under IPC sections 352 (assault), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace), and 506 (criminal intimidation). Mr. Yadav has alleged in his complaint that when he went to the centre and asked the nurse about her repeated absence which affects people, she started hitting him with sticks and slippers.
Amid the outcry, the Chief Medical Officer (CMO) of Sultanpur set up a committee of three senior doctors to look into the matter and submit a report.