SHAHDOL: A family had to transport a man's body 15 km on a motorcycle due to the unavailability of a hearse in Madhya Pradesh's Shahdol district.
A video of the incident that took place on Sunday went viral on social media, prompting an official to clarify that the state health department does not provide vehicles to transport bodies.
Laluiya Baiga (56) died while undergoing treatment at the district hospital in Shahdol on Sunday morning.
The video shows the body placed between two riders being transported on a motorcycle, and the family members of the deceased are heard accusing the hospital of not arranging for a vehicle to take the body to their village Dhurvar, around 15 km from the district headquarters.
Baiga was brought to the facility in a serious condition and died during the treatment on Sunday morning, said the hospital's civil surgeon G S Parihar.
He clarified that the health department doesn't provide vehicles to transport bodies of deceased patients, and civic authorities and social workers arrange for hearses.
In this case, these vehicles were already engaged elsewhere.
But the family wanted one immediately and decided to take the body on a two-wheeler instead, the official said.