Faridabad: Man ‘forced’ to carry wife’s body on cart from hospital, probe on

He told HT that he asked officials at the Faridabad hospital to arrange a hearse or ambulance to move his wife’s body to their residence in Faridabad’s Saran, but hospital staff refused to provide any such facility.

A 35-year-old man was forced to carry his wife’s body on a pushcart from a government hospital to their home after he could not afford a private hearse and alleged the hospital refused to provide transportation. The alleged incident has prompted an investigation into the hospital’s bereavement support protocols, officials said on Thursday.

The alleged incident has prompted an investigation into the hospital’s bereavement support protocols, officials said on Thursday.

According to officials familiar with the case, 35-year-old Anuradha Devi died on Wednesday at Badshah Khan Civil Hospital after a months-long battle with tuberculosis. Her husband, Jhunjhun (goes only by his first name), said he exhausted his savings on her treatment at multiple hospitals, including at All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Delhi.

He told HT that he asked officials at the Faridabad hospital to arrange a hearse or ambulance to move his wife’s body to their residence in Faridabad’s Saran, but hospital staff refused to provide any such facility.

“Then, I tried to hire a private transport, but they asked for at least ₹700. I could not hire that as I had no money left, so finally, I was forced to ask my family members to arrange a pushcart to transport my wife’s body,” he said.

He said that Anuradha was first admitted at the Faridabad hospital four months ago. “She was briefly discharged, but she remained ill. Over the past few months, I got her treated at private hospitals too, and at one point we even got her treated at AIIMS-Delhi, but her condition didn’t improve. She ultimately died,” he said, adding that he was forced to spend all his savings on her treatment.

Dr Ram Bhagat, principal medical officer, Badshah Khan civil hospital, said that he has also come to know about the incident and has ordered an inquiry into the matter. “We are looking into it to see if any hospital employee was actually negligent in guiding the family or deliberately ignored his request. We will contact the family to ascertain what unfolded at the hospital,” he added.

Deputy civil surgeon, Faridabad, MP Singh said the hospital provides hearse vans through the Red Cross Society, separate from patient ambulances. “The matter has come to our light from videos of the incident and if anyone is found to be negligent, then necessary departmental action will also be taken,” he said. “We are also inquiring to ascertain if the family had tried to get a hearse van for transporting the body.”