No ambulance, man carries wife's body on shoulders

In yet another incident, reflecting the poor state of health services in Uttar Pradesh, a man had to carry his dead wife on his shoulders to his village after being denied an ambulance in the state's Budayun district, about 300 kilometres from here on Monday.

According to reports, the man, a resident of Majahara village, had got his sick wife admitted to the district hospital in Budayun on Monday morning. She died a little later in the hospital.

The man requested the hospital staff to provide him an ambulance to carry the dead body to his village, which was around four kilometres away but was purportedly denied the same.

Being extremely poor, the man was not in a position to hire a private vehicle and ultimately he decided to carry his dead wife home on his shoulders.

The matter came to light, when photos of the man walking with his dead wife on his shoulders appeared in the local media.

The hospital authorities said that they would probe the matter and punish the guilty. ''There are two vehicles specifically for carrying the dead home,'' said a senior district health official in Budayun.

Barely a few days back, a man was forced to carry his sick wife to the district hospital, which was nine kilometres away from his village, on a hand cart in the state's Kannauj district.

Earlier also similar incidents had taken place at several government hospitals while on many occasions people had to carry their sick relatives on rickshaw, hand carts and even on cycles.