COVID-19 Patients Dying From Oxygen Deficiency, Indian Courts: It's Like Genocide

Illustration of oxygen cylinder for patient care. (Source: UNICEF / UNI41215 / Rae)

JAKARTA - A court in India on Tuesday, May 4 announced that the death of a COVID-19 patient due to lack of oxygen was a criminal act and like genocide, the court said on its official website.

This is in line with the large number of COVID-19 patients who have died, because they do not have access or cannot buy oxygen, due to the lack of oxygen supply in the country.

The Allahabad High Court, which has jurisdiction over the state of Uttar Pradesh, India's most populous state, said the death of a COVID-19 patient simply due to a lack of oxygen supply to a hospital was a criminal offense and nothing less than genocide.

"This is a crime and nothing less than genocide by those who have been entrusted with the task, to ensure the sustainable procurement and supply chain of liquid medical oxygen", said the court as reported by CNN, Wednesday, May 5.

This statement was issued by two members of the panel of judges who participated in the trial regarding the COVID-19 crisis in Uttar Pradesh, one of the areas worst hit by the second wave of the pandemic.

Strong criticism of the handling of this crisis was also delivered after the state's high court examined videos showing the stockpiling of oxygen cylinders, as well as the harassment of poor people begging for oxygen cylinders.

"We found this news to present a picture that quite contradicts the (state) government's claim that there is an adequate supply of oxygen", the court said.

"This shows two specific stories of COVID-19 patients who have allegedly died from lack of oxygen in the cities of Meerut and Lucknow. And, directs the state government to take immediate remedial action and orders an investigation into the two cases", the court added.

To note, as many as 25 COVID-19 patients at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, New Delhi, died due to lack of oxygen. Meanwhile, on Monday, as reported by Jagran English, 24 COVID-19 patients died due to lack of oxygen at the Chamarajanagar Karnataka District Hospital.

As of Tuesday, India reported 357.229 new cases in the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of cases to 20.282.833. Meanwhile, deaths rose by 3.449 with a toll of 222.408, health ministry data showed.