No ambulance: Man takes mother’s body home on handcart

Indore, Apr 30: The body of a woman was taken to her village on a handcart due to the non-availability of a vehicle or ambulance from a government health centre where she died shortly after being admitted here in Madhya Pradesh, her son said.

A video of Kalawati Vishwakarma (45) being taken to her native village in Patharia in Damoh district by her son on the handcart went viral on social media on Thursday.

After my mother died on Tuesday evening we had to take her back to our village about 2km from the health centre on a handcart as we did not get a vehicle or ambulance despite repeated pleas to the management, said a distraught Debu Vishwakarma, the deceased's son.

"When we asked a private ambulance owner to take my mother's body home, he demanded Rs 5,000 for just a 2-km run, he added.

Devastated and depressed, I arranged a handcart and took my mother home on it, Debu Vishwakarma said in a choked voice.

He claimed his mother did not get proper treatment at the health centre, a charge denied by a government official.

District Chief Medical and Health Officer Dr Sangita Trivedi said, The woman came to our facility in a critical condition. We tried our level best...gave her oxygen support but couldn't save her."

The family took the body home without informing us, she said.