A family in Banda district of Uttar Pradesh was forced to carry a body of their relative on a rickshaw for postmortem after health officials allegedly refused to provide an ambulance, in yet another incident of apathy to the poor.
The video of the body being carried on the rickshaw went viral on social media and local news channels.
The body of Ram Asrey (44) was recovered from a railway track on Saturday near Atra Railway Station but as no ambulance was available, the relatives had to carry the body on a rickshaw for postmortem.
When asked about it, Chief Medical Officer (CMO), Santosh Kumar said the family members of Asrey had not given any information for requirement of an ambulance.
“After the postmortem, an ambulance was provided for taking the body for cremation”, the CMO said.
Last month in Kaushambi, uncle of a seven-year-old girl had to carry her body on a bicycle as his plea for an ambulance fell on deaf ears.
Seven-month-old Poonam, the daughter of Anant Kumar, a daily wage labourer of Malak Saddi village in Majhanpur tehsil of Kaushambi died during treatment at a hospital and died there.
“Despite repeated pleas to the hospital, no vehicle was made available to carry her body. I had to borrow a bicycle and carry it for almost 10 km to reach the village,” victim’s uncle Brijmohan had told reporters.
In May, a labourer had to carry the body of his 15- year-old son on his shoulders after allegedly being turned away by doctors at a government-run hospital in Etawah.