A man in Jharkhand’s West Singhbhum district carried his dead infant in a cardboard box from a government hospital to his home because an ambulance was denied access, the baby’s father told the media on Sunday.
But the hospital authorities denied these allegations, noting that the father or anyone else from his family did not call for an ambulance.
Ramkrishna Hembram, a resident of Bangrasai village, had admitted his pregnant wife Rita Theria to the Chakradharpur sub-division hospital on Thursday. She gave birth to the baby on Saturday, but he died shortly after. “The doctors did not provide proper care during and after the delivery, which led to the death of the baby. After his death, the health workers kept pressuring us to remove the body. We asked for an ambulance or any other vehicle from the hospital to take the body to our village (in Bandgaon Block), but they refused. After that, I put my baby in the remaining cardboard box and left for my village,” Hembram told the media on Sunday.
But the doctor in-charge of Chakradharpur Sub-Hospital, Dr Anshuman Sharma, denied the allegations and said, “Neither the father of the deceased newborn baby nor anyone from his family asked me to request an ambulance from me or any authority at the hospital. If they had approached us, we would have definitely arranged an ambulance for them,” Dr. Sharma said.
Chakradharpur sub-divisional officer Shruti Rajalakshmi said the district authority is investigating the matter. “Appropriate measures will be taken soon,” she added.
The West Singhbhum Civil Surgeon could not be contacted as the post remained vacant for the past eight days.
