Indore mob attack: 2 doctors give saplings, signal forgiveness

Two women doctors who were par of a group that got assaulted by a mob in Taatpati Bakhal in Indore in Madhya Pradesh on April 1 returned to the area on Tuesday to offer saplings as a sign of moving on through forgiveness.They were welcomed with loud claps and cheering by those present in the locality, and videos of the two giving saplings to 48 people discharged from an isolation centre, went viral soon after on social media.

Doctors Trupti Katdare (40) and Zakia Syed (36), who were part of a five-member team that had gone to quarantine relatives and acquaintances of a COVID-19 patient, were injured when stones were pelted by a mob on April 1.

"It was an emotional moment giving saplings to those returning after 14-day isolation period as a precautionary measure. We have forgiven and forgotten the stone pelting incident. People here are now cooperating with health officials to fight the coronavirus outbreak. The bitterness is gone," Dr Katdare said.

Indore is among the cities in the country worst hit by the virus outbreak, with 915 COVID-19 cases, and 52 deaths from the infection.

Indore is one of the cities where the COVID-19 situation was "especially serious", the Centre had warned on Monday.