In a heart-wrenching incident, a grief-stricken father had to carry the body of his one-and-half-year-old son on a two-wheeler for 55 km in the absence of an ambulance in Chattisgarh’s Korba, police said.
According to the police, a man identified as Darasram Yadav, a resident of village Arsena under Lemur police station limits, was forced to take the body of his toddler son to the hospital for post-mortem on the motorcycle in the absence of an ambulance facility.
Giving information about the incident the police said, “Yadav’s wife Akaso Bai along with the child went to a local pond to take bath on Sunday. Accidentally the child identified as Ashwini Kumar drowned. Somehow, the relative with the help of villagers fished out the body and alerted police about the incident.”
In the absence of a mortuary, the inconsolable family members kept the body at their house. However, on Monday Yadav took the body of his child on a motorcycle to a hospital 55 kilometres away.
The pained family neither received an ambulance from the health department nor a vehicle from the police.
As per the relatives of the deceased, a four-wheeler was available at the police station but the police expressed their inability to provide the vehicle and allegedly suggested taking the body to hospital on motorcycle.
Chief Medical and Health Officer S N Keshri said that the family members of the deceased child did not demand the ‘Muktanjali Vahan’ (a facility provided by the state government for free transportation of mortal remains within the state).
The matter will be probed, he added.
Further investigation into the matter is underway.