The women alleged they were not offered a hearse
A video of four women carrying the body of a relative on a cot in Madhya Pradesh's Rewa district has sparked outrage online.
In the video, which is being widely shared on social media, four women can be seen walking down the road, holding the cot on their shoulders or head.
On being asked, the women said they brought their relative to the Community Health Centre in Raipur village of the district after she fell sick. But the woman's condition deteriorated and she died during the treatment.
The women alleged they were not offered a hearse by the health centre to carry the body back home.
"We decided to carry the body on a cot. Neither the health centre, nor the administration helped us, "said one of the women.
"We are going back home the way we had come," another woman said.
However, Chief Medical and Health Officer, Dr B L Mishra, said the health centre staff was trying to arrange for a hearse or auto, but the family decided to carry the body on the cot and left in a hurry.
"It's not a big deal, we don't have a hearse van in the area," Dr Mishra said.
According to district administration officials, the lack of vehicles to ferry patients to the Community Health Centre has caused problems in the past as well.