Man cycles 10 kms with infant’s body on shoulder in UP

 

Lucknow, 13 Jun 2017: In yet another incident reflecting the sorry state of affairs of health services in Uttar Pradesh a man reportedly cycled ten kilometres with the body of his seven month old niece to his village from here, after he could not get an ambulance or a hearse car to take home the body.

 

The shocking incident occurred on Monday in UP’s Kaushambi district, about 200 kilometres from here.

 

 

According to the reports, Anant Kumar, the father of seven-month-old Poonam had got her daughter admitted to the district hospital on Monday morning. Poonam was suffering from diarrhoea.

 

Unfortunately, the child died at the hospital on Monday afternoon. Kumar, a resident of Malaksaddi village, which was about ten kilometres from the district, requested the doctors to arrange an ambulance to carry the body home but they did not help him, reports said.

 

Kumar said that he approached the ambulance driver with the request but the latter demanded Rs. 800 for transporting the body. ’’I did not have any money....whatever I had had been spent on the treatment,’’ he said.

 

The distraught father also approached the hearse car driver for transporting the body but the latter expressed his inability saying that the vehicle was out of fuel.

 

The maternal uncle of the child Brij Mohan, who was also there, then wrapped up the body in a cloth, put it on his shoulder and cycled his way to the village.

 

The matter came to light when the pictures showing Brij Mohan carrying Poonam’s body on his shoulder and cycling with one hand went viral on the social networking sites.

 

Taking a serious view of the incident, the district authorities ordered a probe into the matter. A case was also lodged against the doctor on duty and the ambulance driver, sources said. ’’We will take strict action against those found guilty,’’ said a senior district official in Kaushambi.