Chitral man booked for spreading coronavirus rumours

Amid growing fears of the deadly coronavirus in Pakistan, a man in Chitral has been booked on charges of spreading misinformation on social media.

An FIR has been registered against Irshad Mukarer, a resident of the Darosh area of Chitral district, in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.

According to Wali Khan, the SHO of Darosh Police Station, a Chinese citizen working on the Lawi Hydro Power Project in Chitral visited a local hospital for having pain in his stomach where doctors prescribed him some medicines.

Irshad took his picture at the hospital and posted it on social networking websites saying the Chinese man was infected with coronavirus, medically named ‘2019-nCoV’, SHO Khan added.

The wrong information circulated spreading fear among the locals. Authorities took serious notice of the incident and the police registered FIR against Khan, who managed to get pre-arrest bail.

While Irshad denied sharing any post on social media. “I was visiting the hospital to meet an ailing relative where I saw the Chinese man who was in severe pain and I asked for his proper diagnosis. ”Irshad went on to add that the charges against him were baseless and that the police twisted his words and registered the FIR against him.

The coronavirus originated in the Chinese city of Wuhan has claimed many lives and the World Health Organization (WHO) also declared a global health warning.