Coronavirus: Woman attacked by male colleague ‘after telling him to wear face mask’

A local government employee in India has been arrested after footage showed him brutally attacking a female colleague, reportedly after she reminded him to wear his coronavirus face mask.

Bhaskar Rao, a deputy tourism manager in the state of Andhra Pradesh, can be seen striding across a hotel office on Saturday, grabbing 43-year-old Cherukuri Usharani – who local media reports is disabled – by her hair and throwing her to the ground.

He then picks up what appears to be a sharp item and strikes her with it, as one of several colleagues in the room tries to intervene, narrowly avoiding being struck in the face with the item before he forces Mr Rao to put it down.

However, the now-viral CCTV footage released on Tuesday shows Mr Rao – who allegedly held a grudge against Ms Usharani – immediately picking up a larger blunt item, reportedly the leg of a chair, and landing several blows before another colleague rushes in to stop him.

Ms Usharani can be seen left on the floor after the attack as her colleagues walk away, with one man picking up both weapons and placing the sharp-looking item in a drawer.

“I only asked Bhaskar to wear a mask in the office. He argued with me and beat me with an arm of a chair in front of my colleagues,” The New Indian Express reported Ms Usharani as saying.

“I reported the issue to senior officials in the department, but, they did not respond. I then lodged a complaint with the Dargamitta Police on Saturday itself.”

Nellore District Police arrested him on Tuesday and tested him for Covid-19. He is due to appear before a magistrate once the test result is returned.

The force said there had been no delay in the arrest, adding that it is “extremely sensitive to any violation or crime against women”, describing women’s safety as its “top priority”.

India’s National Commission for Women chair Rekha Sharma tweeted: “I am going to take it up right away. He needs to be booked for his act.”

In a letter to the state’s police chief, the commission said it is “perturbed and shocked by the incident of atrocity committed against a specially-abled woman employee by a person who is holding a responsible position when the government of India is also emphasising the need for inclusion of specially-abled at the highest level.”