Tribal man carries wife, who took poison, on shoulders to hospital, but fails to save her

Rathod Ram (35) could not save his wife Pushpalatha (30) after she consumed pesticide due to crop failure as a result of recent heavy rains.

A tribal man carried his wife, who consumed poison, on his shoulders and ran for more than three kilometres to admit her in a hospital in Telangana’s Kumaram Bheem Asifabad district on Monday.

Rathod Ram (35), however, could not save his wife Pushpalatha (30), as she was declared brought dead by the doctors at the government hospital at Narnoor. (HT PHOTO)

Rathod Ram (35), however, could not save his wife Pushpalatha (30), as she was declared brought dead by the doctors at the government hospital at Narnoor.

“We have booked a case of suicide and are investigating it,” Narnoor assistant sub-inspector Rathod Tanaji said.

Pictures of Ram carrying his wife on his shoulders and crossing a stream to reach the approach road went viral on social media on Tuesday.

According to locals, Ram and Pushpalatha of Umri tribal hamlet of Narnoor block had taken five acres of agricultural land on lease from a landlord Ram Jadhav to raise cotton crop this season. The couple raised huge debts for the cultivation and were expecting good yield in a few days.

“However, the recent heavy rains completely damaged the crop and the couple realized that they would not be able to recover their investment from the crop. On Monday, they went to the fields again to see whether any part of the crop survived the rains. As Ram was inspecting the crop, Pushpalatha consumed pesticide from the bottle she took with her and collapsed in the fields,” a local resident M Venu said.

Ram immediately took Pushpalatha on his shoulders and started running.

“There is no approach road to the hamlet and he had to cross a stream to reach the nearby road which is three kilometres away. He ran all the way carrying his wife on the shoulder, reached the road and then took an auto to go to Narnoor block headquarters to admit her in the local hospital. But unfortunately, she died on the way,” Venu said.

The couple has two sons and two daughters. The body of Pushpalatha was handed over to Ram after post-mortem on Monday evening.