Unable to get vehicle due to floods, youth walks 5km carrying dead sister’s body in Lakhimpur Kheri

The girl was diagnosed with typhoid a week back, but her condition deteriorated on Wednesday, after which she had to be put on oxygen support in a hospital in Pallia town

LAKHIMPUR KHERI A class 12 girl in Kanp village in Lakhimpur Kheri lost her life on Thursday due to typhoid as she remained devoid of medical treatment due to floods wreaking havoc in most of the tehsils of the district in UP. A poignant video of her brother carrying her body for 5km has gone viral on social media.

Manoj carrying his sister’s body on his shoulders on Thursday during floods in Bhira region. (Sourced)

The teenaged girl, Shivani, was diagnosed with typhoid a week back, but her condition worsened since Wednesday, after which she had to be put on oxygen support in a hospital in Pallia town of Lakhimpur Kheri, said her brother Manoj.

He was helpless seeing his sister gasping and shivering in the hospital and unable to move her to the district headquarters or to Lucknow for better treatment as Sharda river had not only inundated the town, but also the Bhira-Pallia and Pallia-Nighasan roads, which were the only routes to reach the district headquarters.

The furious river also washed away the ground beneath the Bhira-Pallia metre gauge track and damaged a portion of the highway near Atariya. Subsequently, movement of vehicles on these roads was suspended.

Shivani succumbed to her ailment on Thursday, leaving her family helpless, dejected and depressed. Speaking to media persons, Manoj said he could not arrange any ambulance or vehicle to ferry his sister’s body to their village (Kanp). But he somehow arranged a horse cart to carry the body till Atariya, where Sharda river was in spate.

“After crossing the road, I had no option but to carry the body on my shoulder to reach home,” he lamented.

Shivani’s father Devendra was devastated by the natural calamity, which hit his family.

Expressing deep sorrow over the incident, Samajwadi Party (SP) president Akhilesh Yadav stated on his X account: “The government was expected to make additional arrangements for emergency medical care in flood situations and remember that the life of a poor person also had some value.”