Delhi: Stopped for not wearing a mask, Uruguay woman threatens cops

NEW DELHI: On the 18th day of the nationwide lockdown, a Uruguayan woman working at the embassy allegedly told police that she had no communication about any such measure from her office. Valentina Obispo, the head of administration, made the claim when police officers, including SHO Vasant Vihar Ravi Shankar, stopped her at Paschimi Marg on Saturday evening for cycling without wearing any mask.
The residents welfare association (RWA) of Vasant Vihar has been complaining to police that diplomats and other foreigners residing in the area are stepping out for jogging and cycling without masks. As a step to check the spread of novel coronavirus, Delhi government has made it compulsory for people to wear masks while stepping out.
Police said they were informed about some foreigners standing outside the building of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Vasant Vihar. A senior officer said around five foreigners were asked to leave the place and a little later, the police personnel patrolling Paschimi Marg found the Uruguayan woman cycling without a mask and gloves.
When SHO Shankar asked her to stay indoors, the woman allegedly threatened him saying “I will see you”. In a video of the incident shot by Parul Gaur, joint secretary of the Vasant Vihar RWA, the SHO could be heard telling the woman, “Our Prime Minister had announced it and (it) has been implemented all across the country”. But the woman claimed she had no communication from her embassy and kept arguing. She eventually left the spot.
The police have written to the Uruguayan embassy requesting it to brief the staff about the lockdown and the related rules.
“Many diplomats and foreigners staying in the area either step out to jog or cycle and don’t follow social distancing. If you try to explain it to them, they talk back rudely,” Gaur told TOI. “We have been getting several complaints from residents and many are demanding they should also be allowed to do the same,” she added.