Today I want to mention some latest cases of people mixing spit or urine in food and serving them to others for consumption. Such cases can, of course, cause anger and a sense of disgust among all of you, but, in order to create public awareness about such despicable persons, it is necessary to inform and educate.
In Ghaziabad, a 32-year-old domestic help Reena was seen on video mixing her urine with flour dough for making chapatis for a family residing in a posh residential society. She had been doing this for the last eight years, and the family members woke up when they started facing health problems. When arrested, the domestic help said she did this because her employer often scolded her for minor mistakes and she wanted to take revenge.
At a dhaba named Khalifa hotel in Saharanpur, the owner and an employee were arrested for mixing spit with flour dough before serving tandoori rotis to customers.
In Baghpat district hospital, two employees, Jabbar Khan and Mushir Ahmed have been charged of conspiring to mix bacterial sputum of tuberculosis patients in food served to deputy CMO Dr Yashveer Singh and his family members. Jabbar Khan worked as coordinator in the tuberculosis and HIV department, while Mushir was a lab technician. The plan was for Mushir to hand over bacterial sputum samples of TB patients to a safai karmachari Tinku, who recorded the conversation on phone and alerted the Deputy CMO. Jabbar has been arrested while Mushir is absconding.
Deeply concerned over a rise in such incidents, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s government is planning to bring an ordinance providing for 10 years’ imprisonment and huge fines for people convicted on charge of contaminating food with human waste like spit or urine.
Contaminating food with spit, urine or other human waste is not only a crime, but a big sin. It is difficult to understand the mindset of people who induge in such heinous acts. With the prolific use of CCTV and smartphone cameras, such culprits are now being nabbed, otherwise nobody knew who was mixing what in food items.
Even if one is charged of committing such acts, it is difficult to prove them in court due to lack of evidence. Some bigoted people call spitting in food as ‘thook jihad’, some term it as acts of a sick mind, and some label it as insane. But this does not reduces the gravity of the crime.
Just imagine what those victims of contaminated food are thinking right now. It makes one shiver. Our lawmakers never imagined that some people would stoop so low as to contaminate food in such a manner. Nobody imagined that maids working in homes or labourers working in dhabas or hotels would indulge in such crime.
I would like to praise Yogi Adityanath for deciding to bring an ordinance providing for stern punishment. Unless we strike fear in the minds of people with sick and depraved minds, such crimes will continue to happen.