In Madhya Pradesh's Morena district, 8-year-old Gulshan sat for hours carrying the body of his 2-year-old brother, Raja, in his arms, while his father Poojaram frantically searched for an ambulance to carry the corpse home.
Heart-wrenching visuals of the boy, sitting with his brother's body wrapped in a white cloth were circulated widely on Sunday, 11 July. The boy was seen sitting by drainage, resting against a wall painted with slogans of 'Swacch Bharat Abhiyan'.
Gulshan's 45-year-old father, Poojaram, indicated that the family was denied an ambulance because they didn't have Rs 2,000.
"I had four children, Raja was the youngest. When he wouldn't stop crying, I took him to the Ambah hospital from where the doctors referred him to the Morena district hospital. My wife had gone to her parents' house and I was only looking after the children," Poojaram said.
What Transpired
After dropping Poojaram and his children to the district hospital, the ambulance carrying them left immediately.
Following his youngest son's demise, Poojaram, who runs a puncture repairing shop, was left without a vehicle.
The healthcare officials in the district facility directed him to rent an ambulance, and handed him the body. The fare for the emergency vehicle was Rs 2,000.
Unable to afford the service, he handed over the body to Gulshan, while he scouted the area to get a cheaper ambulance.
Witnessing the harrowing scene, passersby called upon the police. The hospital staff rushed to help after the visuals were shared online.
A Healthcare System in Despair
The painful images, which are not a rarity in MP, have once again directed our attention to the faults in the state's healthcare system.
In the absence of ambulances, pictures of people carrying dead bodies of their loved ones on shoulders, bikes have emerged in the past as well.
On 10 June, videos of a father walking home with the dead body of his 4-year-old daughter after being denied the hearse van had previously shed light on the issue as well.
Kamal Nath Censures MP Government
Reacting to the incident, MP Congress president Kamal Nath criticised the state's chief minister and asked why "cases of non-availability of ambulances keep coming up in the state at regular intervals."
Citing instances of mismanagement during COVID-19 and incidents of pregnant women dying due to inefficiency, he added in Hindi, "The BJP government's tendency to run away from challenges and deny the truth is making the entire medical system of the state hollow and insensitive."
He urged the official to strengthen the healthcare services in the state.
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)