Fight over face mask claims the girl's life in Andhra

Amaravati, July (IANS) A fight over face mask claimed the life of a 19-year-old girl in Andhra Pradesh's Guntur district, police said.

The incident occurred on July 3 but came to light on Sunday. Karnati Fatima, who sustained head injuries while trying to save her father, succumbed at the Government General Hospital in Guntur on Saturday.

According to police, an argument over not wearing facemask led to the shocking incident in Rentachintala of Guntur district.

Some youth had taken objection to a man, identified as Karnati Yalamandala, moving around in their neighbourhood without wearing facemask. This led to an argument between them.

A few days later the youth were spotted without facemasks in a market by Yalamandala's relatives. This led to a heated argument and then a clash between the two sides on July 3.

When the youth attacked Yalamandala with sticks, his daughter tried to save him. She sustained head injuries and was shifted to the Government General Hospital in Guntur. She died in the early hours of Saturday.

On a complaint by the girl's father, police booked four youth for murder and arrested them.

Last month, police in Nellore district arrested a government official on the charge of brutally assaulting a differently-abled woman colleague in office after she advised him to wear a face mask.

The incident had occurred in the Tourism Department's office in Nellore on June 27 but came to light three days later, after the shocking visuals recorded on CCTV surfaced on the social media.

Andhra Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation (APTDC) had announced the suspension of Deputy Manager C.A. Bhaskar.