Journo dies in mishap, cops shift body in garbage van

HAVERI/BALLARI: In an appalling case of insensitivity and callousness, the body of a young journalist who died in a road accident on Saturday night was shifted by the local police in a garbage van to the Government Hospital at Hanagal.

Making matters worse, the hospital staff refused to touch the body unless they were paid and just wrapped it in torn cloth.

Mounish Pothraj (28), employed with a private TV channel at Sirsi in Karwar district, was heading to Sirahatti in Gadag district on his motorcycle carrying gifts for his family members for Sankranti. He is suspected to have died after his two-wheeler crashed into a roadside tree near Navodaya Kendriya Vidyalaya at Gundur village on Hangal-Bankapur road.

The incident came to light only on Sunday morning. The Hangal police, who were alerted about the accident, arrived at the spot and shifted the body to the Government Hospital in a garbage van belonging to the Hangal town municipal council.

Later, though journalists  raised objection, the police brushed it aside saying no ambulance was available to shift the body. “We had no intention of hurting anybody, Since Saturday was festival, no vehicle was available. We had no alternative,” was Haveri Superintendent of Police K Parashuram’s defence.

Even worse was what happened at the Hangal government hospital. The hospital staff refused to touch the body unless they were paid for it. “They collected money to wrap the body but had packed it in torn cloth. Shockingly, blood was oozing out from the body,” said Basavraj, a journalist at Hanagal. Another journalist himself purchased new cloth and gave it to the hospital staff to wrap the body.

The hospital authorities came around only after journalists from Sirsi and Hangal threatened to stage a dharna. Doctor Harish, who conducted the autopsy on Mounesh Pothraj, told TNIE, “This is a medico-legal case. I have conducted the autopsy and submitted the report to the police. I cannot disclose anything more.”