A tribal man in Odisha had to walk 10 kilometres with his wife's body on his shoulder.
A day haunting images of a man carrying his wife's dead body in Odisha's Kalahandi triggered angry response across the country, Congress supporters held a protest against authorities in Bhawanipatna today.
They also demanded Rs 10 lakh compensation for the family of Dana Majhi, who had to walk 10 km with his wife's body on the shoulders after he was allegedly denied a hearse.
A large number of party supporters took part in the protest organised by Kalahandi district Congress and hit out at the administration for the alleged denial of a hearse for carrying the patient's body from the hospital in Bhawanipatna to her village.
District Congress secretary Samanta Khamari said besides compensation, they also demanded an impartial probe into the incident and stern action against those responsible and adequate steps for education of Mr Majhi's 12-year-old daughter.
They also sought Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik's apology for the incident and alleged that all welfare schemes launched by the BJD government in the state have failed and the poor people were unable to get any benefit.
On Wednesday, Mr Majhi, along with his daughter, had to walk around 10 km carrying his wife's body on his shoulder as he failed to get a vehicle to transport it from a government hospital in the backward district of Kalahandi where she died.
Amang Dei (42) had died of tuberculosis at the district headquarters hospital in Bhawanipatna. Mr Majhi alleged that he failed to get any help from the hospital authorities and had no other alternative than to wrap the body in a cloth and start walking to his village Melghara, about 60 km from here.
After some local reporters spotted the duo, they called up the District Collector and an ambulance was sent for transportation of the body, but by then the man had walked around 10 km.
Kalahandi District Collector Brundha D has ordered an inquiry into the incident. Meanwhile, Chief District Medical Officer of Kalahandi Dr BK Brahma yesterday claimed that the husband of the deceased did not contact anybody for a vehicle to take the body from the hospital to his village.
"The patient was neither discharged nor declared dead by the ward in-charge doctor," the CDMO had claimed in a release, adding Mr Majhi did not ask or contact anybody for a vehicle to carry his wife's body.