"Did you kill your wife?" Collector asked Dana Majhi!

Bhubaneswar: Dana Majhi, the man who carried the body of his dead wife on his shoulders for 10 kilometres due to non-availability of a hearse van in Bhawanipatna of Kalahandi district two days ago, on Saturday alleged that the district Collector asked him whether he had killed his wife.

The shocking statement of the Collector came to fore when OTV met Majhi at his residence in Melghara village, some 60 kilometres from Bhawanipatna.

“First she asked what problems I faced in the hospital. When I said I took my wife from the hospital after she died, the Collector asked me whether I had killed my wife,” Majhi, who performed last rites of his wife yesterday, said, his voice choking as he spoke to OTV.

He continued: “Why would I kill my wife? If at all I had killed my wife, why would I take her to the hospital for treatment?......Had I killed my wife, I would have dumped her body somewhere and fled from the spot instead of carrying her body on my shoulders.”

The 42-year-old tribal man said he was called by officials of the district administration on Friday to give details about the incident and the reasons that prompted him to carry his wife’s dead body to his village.

Dana claimed that he lost his bearings following the death of his wife Amang Dei. He said he did not know what to do and did not even ask anyone in the hospital if he could have a vehicle to carry the body home. Explaining further, he said since they did not have any relatives in Bhawanipatna, he decided to seek help after reaching Sagada, some 10 kilometres away from Bhawanipatna.

However, the Collector has refuted Majhi's allegations.

"I asked him what problems he faced in the hospital. The sub-collector has inquired about the incident based on which we have taken action," Kalahandi Collector D Brunda told OTV over phone.

Meanwhile, after plenty of hue and cry in India and abroad, the Odisha government has said stern action would be taken against the officials involved in the incident.

“We will see if there were any lapses on the part of the hospital authorities. We will definitely take action against the erring officials,” Health minister Atanu Sabyasachi Nayak said.