Gujarat Lockdown COVID-19 Norms: At a time when the nation is facing an unprecedented COVID-19 crisis and is reporting around 4 lakh daily infections, the COVID-19 norms, masks and social distancing went for a toss in Gujarat. A large number of women participated in a religious event organized in a village in Gujarat’s Ahmedabad district to eradicate coronavirus. According to the police, 23 people including the village head have been arrested in the incident.

The incident occurred in Navapura village in Sanand taluka on May 3. A video of the incident showed over 500 women carrying water pots on their heads while walking towards a temple as a part of the religious procession. The video also shows some men taking these pots to the top of the temple and emptying them.

The video went viral soon with many social media users sharing it on the micro-blogging platform Twitter. After the video clip went viral, Ahmedabad rural police said appropriate action had already been taken. The video shows that people were neither wearing masks not maintaining social distancing.

According to the PTI, a police officer said villagers believed that coronavirus will go away if water is poured on the Baliyadev temple. Deputy Superintendent of Police, Sanand Division, KT Kamariya informed that the incident took place on May 3 at Navapura village. He said that a police team rushed to the spot on the same day and arrested 23 villagers, including sarpanch Gafabhai Thakor, for organizing this event. He said all the accused have been booked for violating a police notification regarding public gatherings under section 188 of the Indian Penal Code and the Disaster Management Act and the Epidemic Diseases Act.

Amid the COVID-19 surge, the Gujarat government has put many districts under nigh curfew while broad guidelines banning all kinds of public gatherings have been enforced in the state. Gujarat reported 13,050 new COVID-19 cases yesterday, including 4,693 new cases in Ahmedabad alone.