ORISSA (Web Desk) – A grieving man from the eastern Indian state of Orissa carried his dead wife’s body on his shoulders from the hospital to his village for nearly 12km, claiming it’s because he couldn’t afford to compensate for an ambulance.
According to media reports, with his teenage daughter sobbing by his position, Dana Majhi wrapped his wife’s body in old rags from the hospital bed in Bhawanipatna city early Wednesday because hospital authorities reportedly refused to provide transportation, RT reported.
Amangadei Majhi, 42, had died from tuberculosis at the government hospital.
“I stated the hospital authorities that I am a wretched man and cannot afford a vehicle,” Majhi told local TV reporters. “I kept calling for them, but they said they could not help.”
Local bystanders and television crews found him walking with his wife’s body and called a senior officer to dress for an ambulance to collect the family for the rest of the journey.
The hospital denied the allegations and said Majhi took his wife’s body without informing hospital staff.
“The woman was admitted to the hospital on Tuesday and died the same night. Her husband took away her body without informing any hospital staff,” medical official B Brahma said, the BBC reports.
The state of Orissa had launched a particular scheme in February to provide a complimentary service to transport bodies from government hospitals, but the serving was not repeatedly offered to the sorrowing family.
An Indian member of the parliament Baijayant Jay Panda said that the system was now being extended in light of the supposed incident.
