In West Bengal, a man was compelled to transport his five-month-old son's body wrapped in a bag by bus from Siliguri (Darjeeling district) to Kaliaganj (North Dinajpur district), covering a distance of approximately 200 kilometers after he was unable to pay the exorbitant ambulance fare.
The heart-wrenching journey began on Saturday night from the Siliguri bus stand and concluded at Kaliaganj on Sunday afternoon, with the father recounting his agony-filled journey with his deceased child.
According to Asim Debshrama, a grieving father from Dangipara village in North Dinajpur district, West Bengal, his wife gave birth to twin sons. On May 7, both infants were admitted to Raiganj Government Medical College & Hospital in North Dinajpur district due to their ailments.
As their health didn't improve, both were referred to the North Bengal Medical College & Hospital (NBMCH) in Siliguri, Darjeeling district. On May 10, one of the twins recovered and was discharged from the hospital, and his mother took him to their ancestral home in Kaliaganj.
However, the other son remained in unstable condition and was hospitalized at NBMCH, where his father, Asim, stayed near him on the hospital premises.
On Saturday night, the ailing son died and the helpless father gave a desperate call to ambulance services to take his son's body back to his residence at Kaliaganj. The government ambulance service provider, supposed to give a free service, denied playing the role of hearse carrier unless paid an amount of Rs 8,000 in bribe.
The lamenting father, desperate to bring his son's body back to his ancestral place, with the help of a local agent wrapped his five-month old son's body in a bag, and boarded a Kaliganj-bound bus with that bag, from Siliguri to reach his village the next day.
On arrival at his home on Sunday, Asim broke down and narrated the entire incident to the local mediapersons.
(With inputs from IANS)
