Madhya Pradesh: The man boarded a bus to their village with his niece's body on his shoulder.
A man carried the body of his four-year-old niece, who died in a freak accident, and took a bus to his village because he could not get a hearse from a hospital in Madhya Pradesh. A video of the man walking on a busy road towards the bus stop and boarding a crowded bus with the body has gone viral.
The little girl had died in her village and her body was sent for post-mortem to the district hospital in Chhatarpur. But returning to their village with her body turned out to be a horrific experience for her uncle, who was already grieving.
With her body in his arms, he wandered in search of a hearse. He could not find a government hearse and couldn't afford a private vehicle, so he walked to the bus stand and boarded a bus to his village.
He didn't even have enough money for the bus ticket. Another passenger paid his fare.
Denying the role of doctors in such cases, Chief Medical Health Officer Lakhan Tiwari said it is the job of the Urban Development department to make arrangements for the transport of dead bodies. "I request people not to drag the hospital and its doctors into this," he said.
The disturbing video has emerged nearly four months after a four-year-old girl's body was carried by his family on their shoulders. Both the incidents took place in Chhatarpur, which raises questions about the appalling lack of emergency facilities in the district.
Yesterday, in a similar incident, at Singrauli district in the state, a couple had to carry their stillborn in the side box of their bike after being allegedly denied an ambulance by the hospital.
They rode to the District Collector's to plead for help. Asked to show the baby, they opened the side box and carefully pulled out the tiny body from a bag, exposing the callousness of the authorities.
An inquiry is being conducted into the couple's allegations of neglect.