Odisha man carries dead wife’s body 10 kms along with daughter as hospital refused to provide vehicle
BHUBANESWAR August 25: A strange sight met the locals of Odisha’s Bhawanipatna early on Wednesday morning. A man walking down the road, carrying a body wrapped in a blanket. At his side walked his 12-year-old daughter.Failing to get a vehicle to take home the body of his wife from the district hospital, Dana Majhi had done the inevitable – setting out on the way to his village Melghara, a 60-km walk.
After walking nearly 10 km, he met the crew of a local television channel. “I told the hospital authorities that I am a poor man and cannot afford a vehicle. They said they could not offer any help,” Mr Majhi told them.
The hospital’s alleged refusal came despite an existing scheme from the state government for people like Mr Manjhi.
In a state where medical help isn’t easy to come by, the Naveen Patnaik government had launched the ‘Mahaparayana’ scheme in February, offering to transport the bodies of deceased from government hospitals to their homes free of charge.
The television crew called up the District Collector and arranged for an ambulance for the remaining 50 km of the journey.
Kalikesh Singh Deo, a Member of Parliament from the ruling BJD, tweeted, “I have already asked the local minister to verify this and take appropriate action.”
Kalahandi District Collector Brunda D said, “As we got to know of the incident, we spoke to the CDMO and arranged for an ambulance”. He said he had also issued instructions that the family be provided help under the Harishchandra Yojana for the last rites
