Image Courtesy:livelaw.in
A plea has been filed in the apex court for issuing directions that around 250 pregnant and nurses and doctors be repatriated to India. The petition, filed under Article 32 of the Indian Constitution, states that the mothers and their fetuses are vulnerable as most women are in the final months of their pregnancy.
The petition states that these women had planned to travel back to India in the months of march and April but due to the lockdown and the suspension of flights by India, they were unable to do so and now they are stuck there under unfavourable conditions. The plea further highlights the vulnerability of these nurses and doctors, especially in this crucial time, wherein “the petitioners are living alone in Saudi Arabia with no family to take care of them”. The petition also puts forth how they do not have access to proper medical facilities there.
The petition states that their difficulties have amplified due to government hospitals in Saudi Arabia being converted into Covid-19 treatment centres thus leaving the only alternative of private hospitals which they are unable to afford.
The petitioners state that it is the government’s duty to protect the life of the unborn child from arbitrary and unjust destruction and sought the government’s immediate intervention, as it had done in previous instances when they airlifted some people from Kuwait and United Kingdom recently.
Additionally, the petitioners have also sought directions to the Embassy of Riyadh to ensure that they get access to proper medical facilities until repatriation.
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