Haryana human rights panel takes cognisance after Faridabad woman's body transported on pushcart

Haryana human rights panel takes cognisance after Faridabad woman's body transported on pushcart

Chandigarh, The Haryana Human Rights Commission has taken suo motu cognisance of body of a 35-year-old woman, who died during treatment at Badshah Khan Civil Hospital in Faridabad, being taken home on an open motorised pushcart owing to the family's inability to pay for transportation.

Haryana human rights panel takes cognisance after Faridabad woman's body transported on pushcart

The incident raises serious concerns over the state's obligation to ensure dignity, humane treatment and access to essential public services for persons from economically weaker sections, the commission observed.

It said the right to life under Article 21 of the Constitution is not limited to biological existence but includes the right to live and die with dignity.

"The dignity of a human being does not cease upon death and the State remains obligated to ensure a dignified cremation or burial. Forcing a family to transport a dead body in degrading conditions due to poverty constitutes a violation of the right to dignity, equality and humane treatment," the human rights panel, headed by Justice Lalit Batra, noted in its order dated February 4.

It took cognisance of a news report published in a daily on January 30.

According to reports, the woman was suffering from tuberculosis and related complications and had undergone treatment at multiple government hospitals and during the course of prolonged treatment, the family exhausted all financial resources.

The woman passed away at Badshah Khan Civil Hospital, Faridabad on January 28. Thereafter, the family was reportedly asked to arrange ₹700 for transporting the body, which they were unable to afford.

In the absence of any ambulance or hearse being provided, the family was compelled to make its own arrangement.

The body was transported to Sarurpur village on a motorised pushcart, an act that reflects not choice but compulsion born out of poverty and institutional neglect, the commission observed.

The HHRC pointed out that the news report further discloses that the open pushcart was driven by the aged father-in-law of the deceased, while the husband and mother-in-law accompanied in mourning.

The woman's seven-year-old son held onto the sheet covering his mother's body to prevent it from being blown away in the wind, striving to preserve her dignity during her final journey.

"Such circumstances are wholly incompatible with the standards of humane governance expected in a Welfare State," the commission said.

It took note of reports that the family belongs to the economically weaker section, and had spent all savings on medical treatment of the woman and had to borrow money even for performing her last rites.

The human rights panel noted that when families are pushed to such extremes, denial of free post-death support effectively excludes them from public services and deepens their vulnerability.

The family was compelled to transport the body from Badshah Khan Civil Hospital in Faridabad to their place of residence, around 7-10 km away, without any logistical, institutional or financial aid from the hospital or any state agency, the HHRC order mentioned.

"The fact that such indignity occurred even within a short distance underscores not only the absence of any effective mechanism to ensure continuity of care and dignified handling of deceased persons, particularly indigent patients, but also reflects a disturbing apathy of both society and State instrumentalities towards a human being beyond death," the commission said.

In its order, the Full Commission comprising Chairperson Justice Lalit Batra and members Kuldip Jain and Deep Bhatia observed that forcing a family to transport a dead body in degrading conditions due to poverty reflects a serious abdication of the state's constitutional and moral responsibilities.

The HHRC also referred to the reported stand of a health official that government ambulances are not designated for transporting dead bodies, while another official had reportedly maintained that the bereaved family did not make any request for ambulance to carry the body.

The commission said it reflects a serious policy vacuum and administrative insensitivity.

It asserted that the issue is not whether the family made a request, but whether the state has any assured, accessible and dignified mechanism for transporting bodies of deceased persons belonging to economically weaker families.

The HHRC observed that similar incidents have repeatedly surfaced across the country, where impoverished families are compelled to transport sick relatives or dead bodies using carts, rickshaws, motorcycles or other makeshift means in the absence of dedicated support mechanisms.

Such incidents are not isolated lapses but reflect a deep-rooted systemic failure of the health and administrative framework, the commission said, asserting that no welfare state can permit poverty to determine how a citizen's body is treated after death. Ensuring dignity in death is not an act of charity but a constitutional and human rights obligation.

The commission noted that the Haryana government already provides free ambulance services to pregnant women for transportation to and from civil Hospitals.

On the same lines, the human rights panel recommended the Haryana health department frame a policy ensuring that in cases where a patient from an economically weaker family dies in any civil hospital, the body is transported to the family residence free of cost and in a dignified manner.

Assistant Registrar Dr Puneet Arora said the HHRC has directed additional chief secretary, Health and Family Welfare Department, Haryana, director general, Health Services, Haryana, and the civil surgeon-cum-chief medical officer, Faridabad, to submit their respective action taken reports at least one week prior to the next date of hearing, scheduled for April 2.

Notably, after the incident, civil surgeon at the Badshah Khan Civil hospital, Dr Jayant Ahuja, had said an inquiry has been ordered into the incident, and action may be taken if staff negligence is found.

This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.