Denied a hearse, man carries dead child on motorbike

Unable to get a hearse from the Shahdol district Hospital, Budh Sen Pal, a resident of village Naudiya, Beohari tehsil, MP, carried his daughter’s body on a motor-cycle to return to his village.

On Tuesday, the five-year-old daughter of Pal breathed her last at the Shahdol district hospital where she was admitted after tasting some remains of a waste battery (torch cell) on Monday morning.

After the autopsy was done at the hospital, Pal had approached the hospital administration to arrange a hearse van.

However, soon after assuming that he won’t be able to get the hearse, Budh decided to carry the body of his 5-year-old daughter to the village to perform the last rites.

Covering the body in a white bed sheet, Pal rode pillion in a two-wheeler and covered a distance of nearly 100 kilometres to reach his village.

When contacted, the hospital administration tried to hush up the matter.

“Nobody has informed me that a hearse was not available to carry the body of a five-year old girl. The hospital administration is supposed to arrange a hearse van. I will look into the matter,” Dr A P Diwedi, chief medical officer and district health officer, Shahdol district, said.