According to the Haldwani police, her brother was found unconscious near a railway track in Haldwani after consuming poison.
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Unable to afford ambulance charges to transport her deceased brother’s body home, a young woman from Uttarakhand had no choice but to tie the body to the roof of a cab and travel 175 kilometers through the hills from Haldwani to Berinag in Pithoragarh.
Shivani, a poverty-stricken resident of Timoli Gvir village in Berinag, faced this distressing ordeal on Saturday. Her 20-year-old brother, Abhishek Kumar, tragically ended his life by consuming poison in Halduchaur, Haldwani.
Left stranded with no financial means to hire an ambulance, Shivani sought assistance from ambulance drivers but was turned away as they demanded Rs10,000-Rs12,000.
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Desperate, she turned to local cab drivers. Finally, a driver from her village agreed to help, allowing her to transport Abhishek’s body tied to the roof of his vehicle.
According to the Haldwani police, Abhishek was found unconscious near a railway track in Haldwani after consuming poison. When taken to the hospital, doctors declared him brought dead.
Shivani, who has been working in a private company in Halduchaur for the past six months, had recently helped Abhishek secure a job in the same firm.
The siblings lived together in a rented house. On the day of the incident, Shivani went to work while Abhishek stayed home, complaining of a headache.
Later, when Abhishek failed to respond to Shivani’s repeated calls, she returned home during her lunch break.
Detecting a strong smell of medicine in the house but not finding her brother, she became anxious.
At 2:30 pm, the police contacted Shivani, informing her that Abhishek had been found unconscious near the railway tracks.
Abhishek was taken to Sushila Tiwari Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. After the post-mortem, Shivani was handed the body.
Faced with exorbitant ambulance charges and no one willing to offer help, she had to rely on the cab driver’s support to bring her brother home.
This heart-wrenching story highlights the struggles of the impoverished in accessing basic services, even in moments of profound grief.
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