Denied ambulance, boy in MP waits with toddler brother's body on his lap on roadside

Bhopal: In a gut-wrenching incident, a boy in Morena district was left with his toddler brother’s dead body on his lap after being denied an ambulance to ferry the body to his home village.

The visuals, shot by a local journalist, have gone viral on social media. Netizens expressed their shock and dismay over the apathy of the administration towards the unprivileged.

The video shows the 8-year-old boy, identified as Gulshan, sitting against a wall with one hand over the white cloth over his lap from which a hand poked out. He kept swatting the flies that buzzed around with the other hand. When passersby questioned him, he says that he is waiting for his father to bring a vehicle to bring his brother home.

According to an NDTV report, the incident happened on Saturday after Raja, the 2-year-old son of Poojaram died at the Morena District Hospital suffering from Anaemia and ascites- abdominal swelling caused by the accumulation of fluid.

The report further said that Poojaram was denied an ambulance by the hospital staff to carry the body home to Badfra village of Ambah, which is 30 km away.

Poojaram decided to leave Gulshan in front of Morena’s Nehru Park and go looking for a private vehicle he could afford. For half an hour, Gulshan sat there, his dead brother’s head on his lap, eyes gazing out for his father’s return, the NDTV report added.

Further, the hospital administration took action only after a crowd gathered and the authorities were alerted. A policeman picked up the body and led Gulshan back to the district hospital. Finally, Poojaram and his sons were given an ambulance to make their way home, the report said.

(With NDTV inputs)