A Maharashtra couple was recently forced to travel for 15 kilometers while carrying their dead sons — with videos of the incident now going viral on social media. The case was highlighted in the state Assembly by Congress leader Vijay Wadettiwar on Thursday.
“Two siblings who came today got fever. No treatment was received in time. Within two hours, the condition of both of them deteriorated and within an hour and a half, both of them breathed their last. There was no ambulance to take the body home from the hospital. The parents carried the bodies of both the siblings on their shoulders. Finding a path through the mud, they reached Pattigaon in Aheri taluka, 15 km away, on foot,” he recounted.
Wadettiwar also lashed out at Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis — the guardian minister of the district and NCP leader Dharma Rao Baba Atram who is part of the Eknath Shinde-led government.
Health officials said a medico-legal case had since been registered in connection with the deaths. According to an official, the children — aged six years and three-and-a-half years fell ill in their house in Pattigaon in Aheri taluka on September 4. Their parents had taken them to the Jamilgatta primary health centre by foot for treatment. However they were declared dead on arrival by doctors at the PHC.
Officials said the parents had then taken their bodies back to the village without heeding requests for post mortem.
“After a medico-legal case was registered, the bodies of the two children have been sent for post mortem. We are awaiting the reports. The bodies will be handed back to the parents after the procedure,” a health official said.
The incident comes mere days after Wadettiwar highlighted another incident from the Vidarbha region that saw a pregnant tribal woman deliver a stillborn child and then succumb to her own wounds. The woman — a resident of Dahendri village in Melghat tribal region of Amravati — could not be shifted to a hospital as local health authorities said an ambulance would take at least four hours to reach.
(With inputs from agencies)