In a shocking incident, a father was forced to carry his 7 year old daughter’s body on Friday after ambulance in which they were taking their daughter to Odisha’s Malkangiri district hospital allegedly left them midway.

This incident comes barely a week after a man carried his wife’s dead body for 10 kilometers while trying to reach a hospital in Kalahandi.

Barsha Khemudu of Ghusapalli in Malkangiri had died while her parents were transferring her from Mithali hospital to Malkangiri district hospital after her health deteriorated.

“The driver asked us to get down from the ambulance as soon as he came to know about the girl’s death on the way,” Dinabandhu Khemudu, the girl’s father, said.

The matter came to light when locals saw Khemudu and his wife walking carrying the body. They contacted the local block development officer and medical authorities to arrange another vehicle for the family.

Meanwhile, Malkangiri district collector K Sudarshan Chakravarthy asked the chief district medical officer Uday Shankar Mishra to investigate the matter. Mishra has filed an FIR at Malkangiri police station against the driver. A pharmacist and an attendant who were in the ambulance were also charged.

“It was totally illegal and criminal negligence on the part of the driver. Stringent action will be taken against persons responsible for the incident,” Chakravarthy added that the district administration has provided immediate financial assistance to the girl’s parents.

Calling the incident “inhuman”, Mishra said he had sent another vehicle to the location which dropped the girl’s family at their village.

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BY M. DIVYA SRI