Bhawanipatna incident: Odisha CM assures stringent action against guilty

Expressing grave concern over the shocking incident where a man had to carry the body of his wife from the District Headquarters Hospital in Bhawanipatna to his village on his shoulders in the absence of ambulance service, Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Friday assured that stringent action would be initiated against those found guilty.

"Indeed that is very distressing news and we have ordered an inquiry and very stringent action should be taken against those found guilty. We have a new policy in force now, which is ambulance services to take dead bodies where they are required to be taken," said Patnaik.

Assuring the incident like this would not be repeated in future, Patnaik said, "Let's wait for the result of the inquiry, strict action will be taken."

The incident took place when Agang Majhi, the wife of Danu Majhi of Melghara village in Thuamul Rampur block, was admitted in Bhawanipatna District Headquarters Hospital suffering from tuberculosis.

She, however, died late on Tuesday.

Agang's husband was not able to get an ambulance till the next morning to take her body to his village.

In sheer desperation, he wrapped the body of his wife in a cloth, placed it on his shoulders and walked towards his village accompanied by his 12-year-old daughter.

The Chief District Medical Officer sent an ambulance to carry the body to Melghara village after being informed by some locals about the incident.

By that time, Danu had already covered a distance of 10 km carrying the body on his shoulder

"As we got to know of the incident, we spoke to the Chief District Medical Officer and arranged for an ambulance," Kalahandi District Collector Brundha D. said yesterday.