NHRC notice to Bihar over denial of mortuary van

The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) on Monday issued notice to Bihar government and sought clarification over a report that a man in Bihar was forced to take the body of his deceased wife on a motor cycle after a government hospital didn't provide him a mortuary van.

Taking up the matter suo motu, the Commission issued a notice to Bihar Chief Secretary and sought a report within four weeks.

The Commission observed that this is not the first time the incident has come to their notice.

"It seems that the authorities are lacking on their part in understanding the sensitivity involved in such situations, which amounts to violation of right to life and dignity of the persons and is also indicative of negligence by the hospital administration and lack of proper infrastructure," the NHRC said.

The man in Bihar's Purnia district carried his wife's dead body on a motorcycle to reach his home for her last rites as he was denied a mortuary van at a government hospital. He was unable to afford a private vehicle.

Sixty-year-old labourer Shankar Sah is a resident of Ranibari village of Purnia district, whose 50-year-old wife Susheela Devi died of illness at the Purnia Sadar Hospital earlier on Friday.

Despite all the efforts, Sah could not get any help from the hospital authorities and hence placed his wife's body on a motorcycle, with himself holding it as pillion rider to reach their village home.

Earlier in March this year, the relatives of another woman, who died at the Sadar Hospital, were forced to carry her body on foot for about 500 meters before they could engage an auto-rickshaw to take it home.