A man assaulted two women doctors of Delhi’s Safdarjung Hospital on Wednesday evening when they were out buying groceries, NDTV reported on Thursday.

The doctors had gone to a market in Gautam Nagar, when a man accosted and heckled them for not being inside their homes. He claimed that the doctors could spread the coronavirus in the market they were shopping at. When the doctors confronted the accused, they were attacked.

The residents of Gautam Nagar refused to identify the attacker to the police. The attacker was later identified as a 42-year-old interior designer. He was arrested on Wednesday night. The doctors were taken to Safdarjung Hospital for treatment.

“The two doctors were posted in the emergency ward,” Safdarjung Hospital Resident Doctors Association President Dr Manish Kumar said according to IANS. “Around 9 pm while they were buying vegetables, a man asked them to step aside accusing them for spreading coronavirus. When the doctors retaliated and argued with the man, he slapped them and twisted their hands. The local residents intervened and saved the doctors but the man ran away.”

There have been several instances of doctors being harassed during the Covid-19 pandemic, though the government has repeated urged people not to abuse medical staff as they are on the front lines of treatment. The Supreme Court on Wednesday also recommended that healthcare workers get proper equipment and instructed states to act strictly against those harassing medical staff.

Delhi has so far reported 669 positive cases of the coronavirus, including nine deaths. The Delhi government on Wednesday sealed 20 “hotspots” in the city in order to block the spread of Covid-19. The government also made it compulsory for people to wear face masks while going out.