Three incidents in two days from the states of Odisha and Madhya Pradesh show how despite India emerging as a superpower, a basic dignity of death is being denied to the common man

India is a nuclear power, an IT superpower and an economic giant in global trade. However, 69 years after Independence, a basic dignity of death seems to still be eluding many people.
Three incidents in two days show how the system has failed the common man even in death.
The first report came from Kalahandi in Odisha, where a tribal man, Dana Manjhi had to carry the body of his wife, Amangadei for 12 kilometres after not being able to get any government help.
District hospital authorities allegedly refused to arrange a vehicle for him and he did not have money to hire a hearse. Manjhi wrapped his wife’s body in old bed sheets and started walking towards his home, some 60 kilometres away. His teenage daughter was seen sobbing along the way.
He had walked with his wife’s body for 12 kilometres, before some youths alerted local officials, who arranged an ambulance.

 

HIP BONE BROKEN TO CARRY THE BODY

The second incident was again reported from Odisha. A horrifying video emerged from the Balasore district in which a hospital worker was seen standing over a dead body, pressing it down with his foot and breaking the bones at the hip to make it a compact, transportable bundle.

The two hospital workers then stuffed the broken body into a large plastic bag, tied its ends and slung it on a bamboo stick. Then, they carried it through the road. No vehicles were made available to them either.

These spine-chilling, macabre visuals go against all sensibilities attached to dignity of human life.

Salamani Barik, 76, was run over by a train on Wednesday. Her body was lying at a community centre in Soro town of Balasore district of Odisha.

As per law, a post-mortem was necessary but there were no such facilities at Soro. The body needed to be transported to the district headquarters, some 30 km away.

No ambulance was available there, hiring an auto-rickshaw seemed expensive, so the authorities asked the sweeper staff to transport the body till the railway station from where the Railway Police would take the body to Balasore. Finding the body stiff and difficult to carry, the workers broke it at the hip to fit it into the plastic bag.

FUNERAL PROCESSION THROUGH DIRTY POND

The third incident was reported from Madhya Pradesh. A video has emerged from Jabalpur, in which a group of people are seen wading through a dirty pond carrying a dead body. 

The people were part of a funeral procession, which was forced to wade through the pond as the sand mafia had blocked the main route leading to the cremation ground. The authorities haven’t paid any heed to complaints lodged by the local people. Clearly, dignity in death is an alien concept to this nexus of corruption.

OTHER SUCH INCIDENTS

In May this year, two youths rode their bike with the body of a relative from Jharigan Community Health Centre to Bharuamunda village in Nabarangpur district of Odisha. They were forced to carry the body for 30 kilometres as they did not have enough money to arrange a vehicle.

Another incident took place in Rayagada district of Andhra Pradesh, where in April this year, a family was forced to tow their daughter’s body in a trolley-rickshaw for the last rites as no one came forward to help them.

As India aspires to be a developed nation, we hope the government first ensures its people the very basic facilities first.

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Another Odisha man forced to carry daughters body for 6 km after ambulance dropped them midway

 

Source: India TV, http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/odisha-father-daughter-dead-body-walk-ambulance-dropped/1/755570.html

A man had to walk six km with daughter’s body after the ambulance allegedly dropped them midway after getting to know that the girl had died while going to the hospital.

In a near rerun of the Dana Majhi incident in Kalahandi in Odisha , a man again was forced to walk 6 km carrying his seven-year-old daughters body today as the ambulance transporting them allegedly left them midway.

The ambulance driver had allegedly asked the girls parents to get down after coming to know that the girl has died on the way to Malkangiri district hospital.

 

WHAT HAPPENED

Barsha Khemudu of Ghusapalli in Malkangiri died while being taken by her parents in the ambulance from Mithali hospital from where she was referred to Malkangiri district hospital following deterioration in her health condition.

“The driver asked us to get down from the ambulance as soon as he came to know about the girls death on the way,” Dinabandhu Khemudu, the girls father, said.

The matter came to light when locals inquired about Khemudu and his wife walking carrying the body of their daughter. The villagers then contacted the local BDO and medical authorities to get another vehicle to carry the body to their village.

Meanwhile, Malkangiri district collector K Sudarshan Chakravarthy has asked the chief district medical officer Uday Shankar Mishra to probe into the matter. The CDMO has filed an FIR at Malkangiri police station against the driver, a pharmacist and an attendant who were in the ambulance.

“It was totally illegal and criminal negligence on the part of the driver. Stringent action will be taken against persons responsible for the incident,” Chakravarthy told reporters, adding the district administration has provided immediate financial assistance to the girls parents.

When contacted, Mishra said the act was “inhuman”. “After coming to know the incident, I immediately sent another vehicle which dropped the girls family at their village,” he said.

Dana Majhi had to walk about 10 km from Bhawanipatna in Kalahandi district along with his teenage daughter on August 24 carrying his wifes body on his shoulders after allegedly being denied a hearse by Kalahandi district hospital.

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Bhopal: Woman dies in bus, family told to ‘get down’

 

Source: Indian Express, http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-news-india/bhopal-woman-dies-in-bus-family-told-to-get-down-2999974/

Two lawyers on a bike reportedly found Ramsingh Lodhi and his mother on the road, with Mallibai’s body next to them, and organised a vehicle for them.

A man whose ailing wife died in a bus on way to hospital was made to get off with his five-day-old child and mother in Damoh district of Madhya Pradesh, according to reports.

The driver and conductor of the bus have been taken into custody and a case under IPC Sections 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) and 336 (act endangering life or personal safety of others) lodged against them, SP Tilak Singh said Saturday.

According to reports, on Thursday, Ramsingh Lodhi, 37, a resident of Ghoghri village in Chhatarpur district, was on way to Damoh district hospital with wife Mallibai, who had taken ill after the birth of their daughter five days before. After Mallibai, 35, succumbed, the driver and conductor, allegedly coaxed by some passengers, asked Lodhi — along with his infant daughter and 65-year-old mother — to get off near Chainpura Parasai village, some 20 km before Damoh.

Two lawyers on a bike reportedly found Lodhi and his mother on the road, with Mallibai’s body next to them, and organised a vehicle for them.

While there were reports that a police vehicle came before the duo arrived, but left after checking basic details from Lodhi, the SP denied the allegation.

Home Minister Bhupendra Singh has ordered cancellation of the driver’s licence and the bus’s permit. A man from the transport company that operates the bus, however, claimed that Lodhi got off on his own after his wife died, saying the journey back home from Damoh would be costlier.

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Mother Delivers Baby In Auto-Rickshaw As Janani Express Fails To Arrive, Baby Slips From Auto, Dies

 

Source: Ommcom News, People’s Voice, http://ommcomnews.com/public/mother-delivers-baby-in-auto-rickshaw-as-janani-express-fails-to-arrive-baby-slips-from-auto-dies-

Nabrangpur: Witnessing the rotting and crumbling health infrastructure of Odisha, an expectant mother delivered her baby in an auto- rickshaw few kilometers away from the hospital, and the baby died after taking birth falling from the auto-rickshaw.

The mother, Jamuna Bhatra of Chalanguda village, Umerkote block in Nabrangpur district was experiencing labour pain from early in the morning. Her husband, Madhu Bhatra had called the ‘Janani Express’, a novel transport system for carrying expectant mothers to the nearby health institutions.

The couple waited for a few hours, but Jamuna’s pain had increased. So, they hired an auto-rickshaw with the help of the local ASHA workers and took the pregnant woman to the nearest Community Health Centre (CHC), Umerkote which is 20 kms away from their village.

Owing to the bad condition of the kuchha road they were travelling, Jamuna delivered a baby girl in the auto-rickshaw few kilometers away from the CHC. Moreover, the mother was so weak that she was unable to hold her baby properly and the baby slipped, thereby causing her death.

The ASHA workers along with the parents of the dead infant are protesting in front of Umerkote Community Health Centre (CHC) holding the dead infant.

They are demanding a compensation of Rs. 5 lakhs and transfer of the Collector and the Chief District Medical Officer. The Inspector-in-charge and Tehsildar have intervened and pacified them ensuring to take adequate action regarding the incident.

Notably, there are around 362 villages in Nabarangpur district where the government’s initiative, ‘Janani Express’ simply does not reach, according to sources. There are no proper roads to 221 villages in the district making it very difficult to implement the schemes of the government for the betterment of the people

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Woman Delivers Child On Hospital Porch In Madhya Pradesh; Probe Ordered

Source: NDTV, http://www.ndtv.com/india-news/woman-delivers-child-on-hospital-porch-in-madhya-pradesh-probe-ordered-1432497

KATNI, MADHYA PRADESH:  A 23-year-old tribal woman gave birth to a child on the porch of the district hospital in Madhya Pradesh’s Katni as she was allegedly not given medical attention on time, prompting the authorities to order a probe into the incident.

Rama Singh, wife of Ravendra, a resident of Kalwara Fathak area in Katni, gave birth to the child on the porch at around 1 pm on July 15, according to eyewitnesses. A hospital official also confirmed the incident. The doctors at the government-run medical facility were in a meeting at that time.

“I today ordered an inquiry to find out the truth in media reports which alleged the woman was not given medical attention at the time of need,” Katni District Chief Medical and Health Officer (CM&HO) Ashok Chodha told PTI.

District Hospital civil surgeon Umesh Namdeo said on seeing the woman’s condition, after she came to the hospital, they immediately called for a stretcher.

However, the women accompanying Rama insisted on delivering the child on the porch itself as the baby was coming out of the birth canal, he said, adding they covered the area with clothes.
“I think their decision was wise. There was a strong possibility the child may have slipped on the ground and sustained head injuries while getting inside the emergency room,” he said.

The woman and the newborn were rushed to the maternity ward immediately after the delivery and both are fine now, Mr Namdeo, a child specialist said.
“Yes, with other doctors I was in a meeting at that time. Another doctor, Rajendra Thakur and others staffers were in the emergency room, just a few metres away from the porch,” he said.

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