A 19-year-old woman COVID-19 patient, 'raped' by an ambulance driver early this month, allegedly made a suicide attempt on September 17 at the Government Medical College Hospital here, hospital sources said.

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She attempted to hang herself from a ceiling fan in her room at the isolation ward but was rescued by the hospital security staff who broke open the door, they said. A duty nurse alerted others on noticing the woman closing the door of the room as her mother stepped out in the afternoon, the sources said. Doctors believe that the trauma she suffered in the ambulance and the COVID-19 disease could be the reasons for her attempting to kill herself.

The woman was allegedly raped by the ambulance driver while shifting her to a first-line treatment centre in Pathanamthitta district on September 5. The driver was arrested later by the police based on a complaint by the woman's mother. He was also dismissed from service by the "Kanivu 108 Ambulance Services".