Maharashtra: No ambulance, parents take home son’s body on bike

The relatives of the boy have alleged that ambulance drivers allegedly refused to take the body, as the parents did not have sufficient money to pay for the ride. Following the incident, three ambulance drivers have been suspended.

Yuvraj Paradhi, the father of the deceased, said that on January 22, his son Ajay was admitted to a private hospital in Nashik’s Triambakeshwar with fever. A day later, the doctors asked Yuvraj to shift the child to a government hospital. Following this, Ajay was shifted first to Mokhada government hospital and then to the Cottage hospital in Jawhar taluka on January 26. The child, however, passed away the same day.

The relatives have alleged that when family inquired about an ambulance or hearse to carry the body, they were told by the hospital to pay for it. As Yuvraj did not have the money, the family took the body to their residence on a bike.

District health officials, however, have claimed that while the hospital does not have an ambulance of its own, the hospital authorities had arranged for an ambulance but the family had by then left with the body.

The medical superintendent of the hospital, however, in a letter to the district civil surgeon, said: “The patient died at 9.15 pm. After the death was reported to the medical superintendent, the medical superintendent instructed the on-duty staffer to call the (ambulance) driver and take the body to the village…”

“…The ambulance driver arrived a little late. The relatives may have thought that the body would be sent for autopsy and hence, took away the body in a hurry,” the letter added.