COVID-19: Jamaat members demand non-veg food at Kanpur hospital

Miffed at not being served “non-vegetarian food”, some coronavirus patients linked to the Tablighi Jamaat allegedly created a ruckus at Kanpur's Lala Lajpat Rai hospital, chasing and manhandling a ward boy.

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According to officials, 70 Tablighi Jamaat members and their contacts are undergoing treatment for coronavirus at hospital attached to the GSVM Medical College.

On Saturday, 15 of them refused to eat food, demanding that they be served non-vegetarian food, said college Principal Dr Arati Dave Lalchandani.

Their daily diet includes a bun and butter in breakfast; fruits, rice, dal, roti and vegetables in the dinner.

"On Saturday, a ward boy had gone to the COVID-19 isolation ward situated on the third floor of the hospital to serve food to the Jamaatis and their contacts who refused to eat and asked for non-vegetarian food,” Dr Lalchandani told reporters on Sunday.

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“They asked that the menu should be changed everyday as they are bored of eating vegetarian food," she added.

When they did not get non-vegetarian food, they threw the 'pure protein-rich' food on the floor, she said.

"They even manhandled the ward boy who somehow managed to escape. They came down while chasing him," the principal said, adding that the ward boy narrated his ordeal to the authorities, who brought up the matter before police officials.

"It has been decided that food will be served to the Jamaatis in police presence to avoid such problems in future," she said.