Bihar man carries dead son on shoulders, district magistrate orders probe

Similar incidents in May 2017 in Majhaulia village of Muzaffarpur, and in October 2017 in Patna, had raised questions on health care system in the state.

The Nalanda district magistrate has ordered a probe after it came to light that a man was forced to carry the body of his eight-year-old son on his shoulders on Tuesday as the hearse at government hospital was unavailable at that time.

Lack of ambulances in district hospitals has been a perennial problem in Bihar. (HT File Photo/Representative Imagre)

The incident brought back the memories last year’s incident in Odisha, where one Dana Manjhi was forced to walk 10 kilometers carrying his wife’s body on his shoulders as he was not provided any transport from the government hospital to his village in Kalahandi district.

Tuesday’s incident took place at the Sadar hospital at Biharsharif, 75 kms south-east of Patna.

Nalanda DM Yogendra Singh has sought clarification from the civil surgeon Parmanand Chowdhary and constituted a two-member team led by the SDM to investigate the matter.

“The incident has come to our knowledge but the lone hearse at Sadar hospital had gone to Silau and the man did not wait for its return. Instead, he preferred to carry the body on his shoulders,” the DM said.

The DM said this was second such incident in the district in recent times when an ambulance service had been found wanting. “A few months ago, the agency providing the service was penalised after it was found that the drivers were taking money from patients for the service provided,” he said.

Similar incidents in May 2017 in Majhaulia village of Muzaffarpur, and in October 2017 in Patna, had raised questions on health care system in the state.