Mumbai:Photographs and videos of a seven-month pregnant police constable working in the scorching heat and facing the COVID-19 pandemic have hit social media.
Police constable Rupali Babaji Akhade, deployed at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT) railway police station, works for 12 hours a day, from 9 am to 9 pm. Owing to the immense pressure on the police department amid the pandemic and the subsequent lockdown, constable Akhade is compelled to work even in the seventh month of her pregnancy.
She is tasked with the verification of documents of employees in emergency services, before granting them entry to the station.
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Akhade also monitors social distancing and Covid appropriate behaviour in the premises. She has been serving in the Railway Police for nine years.
Akhade was married to her husband about to years ago. Currently, she lives with her in-laws.
"I am working even now because there is tremendous pressure on the police," she said.
Appealing to the people to follow COVID norms, she said people need to support the efforts taken by the administration to curb the pandemic and cooperate with the police.
"People all over the state should support the police. Do not fear but abide by the restrictions. People serving in emergency services, too, need to follow social distancing while using local trains and use sanitizer from time to time so that they do not become carriers of the virus," she said.
