Man carries dead wife for seven miles after hospital 'refuses transport'

Indian hospital claims the grieving man left without asking them

Pictures of Dana Majhi carrying his deceased wife shocked India (Youtube/Screengrab)

An Indian man has claimed he was forced to carry his dead wife for more than seven miles after a hospital refused to transport her home.

Amang Majhi died of tuberculosis on Tuesday at the Bhawanipatna hospital in Kalahandi, a particularly deprived district in the eastern Odisha state.

But hospital staff allegedly refused to provide transport for her body to the family home in Melghara, some 37 miles away.

Her husband Dana Majhi, a labourer, could not afford to hire a vehicle and resorted to walking with his dead wife on his shoulder, along with his daughter, Chaula.

Television footage of showed Chaula in tears as Mr Majhi walked with his wife's body, which was wrapped in cloth.

“The hospital authorities said that there are no vehicles,” Mr Majhi told local media.

“I pleaded with them saying I am a poor person and cannot afford a vehicle to carry my wife’s body. Despite repeated requests, they said they cannot offer me any help.”

By the time the hospital was told what was happening, reportedly by the TV crew who filmed him, Mr Majhi had walked 7.5 miles with the corpse. An ambulance was sent to take the family the rest of the way.

However, hospital officials denied Mr Majhi’s version of events.

"The woman was admitted to the hospital on Tuesday and died the same night. Her husband took away her body without informing any hospital staff," senior medical official B Brahma told the BBC.

Despite this, the images of the event provoked a public outcry in India. Odisha’s Chief Minister, Naveen Patnaik, said: "We are looking into this matter. We will take action. Fresh ambulances will be ordered."

The new ambulances will cover 30 district hospitals and three medical colleges, The Indian Express reported.

The same week in Odisha, the bones of a 76-year-old woman’s body were broken by hospital workers in order to make it easier to bundle up her cadaver in plastic bags.

Salamani Barik died after being hit by a train at Soro town in Balasore district, NDTV reported.

"They carried my mother in a broken condition,” said the woman’s son, Rabindra Behara.

“I am helpless to do anything. I pray to the authorities for justice.

“They could have been a little more human. I initially thought of filing a case against the policemen. But who would act on our complaint?”

Odisha state has a reputation as a neglected region and its public services and infrastructure are notoriously poor.

"Look at the irony,” VS Krishna of rights group Human Rights Forum told First Post.

a“This belt of Odisha is extremely rich in mineral resources like bauxite, but the people are extremely poor.

“Travelling through the area gives you a sense of acute government neglect. From a human rights perspective, bodies being taken like this is stripping a human being of his or her dignity."

The region is also underserved by the national media, leading commentators to claim numerous cases like that of Mr Majhi and Ms Barik happen every day in the district, but are under-reported.