Denied hearse, father carries son's body in arms

Baripada: In a shocking incident, a tribal man was forced to carry the body of his son in his arms after failing to get a hearse at Pandit Raghunath Murmu Government Medical College and Hospital (MCH) here on Saturday.

According to reports, Bajun Soren (57) of Jhinei village had to carry the body of his son Jogeswar (10) in arms for nearly one kilometer as he failed to get proper transportation facility despite provisions at the hospital.

Bajun decided to walk up to the bus stand after a driver of a hearse demanded a bribe of Rs 400.

A few locals after spotting Bajun and his family walking along with the dead body in hands, informed police and hospital authorities who then swung into action.

Following the incident, the hospital authorities arranged for a Swarga Rath, hearse for sending the family with the body to their native village.

However, the incident has sparked off widespread resentement as such incidents of apathy continue to be reported from different parts of the State at regular intervals.

Though the hospital authorities and adminsitration has ordered an inquiry into the incident, the incident has brought to fore the lapses in the implementation of several welfare schemes of the government and management by local authorities.

Many have also questioned how the dead body was handed over to the family and they were allowed to move out of the hospital.

"The police personnel deployed at the hospital had asked the family to wait. But without informing, they had left the hospital. Later, a vehicle was arranged by the hospital," said ADMO Pradipta Mohapatra.