Transport of body in garbage vehicle causes uproar

Transport of the body of a tribal woman in a garbage vehicle in Gummalakshmipuram mandal of Parvatipuram-Manyam district caused uproar among tribal people and others in the district.

Leaders of the Opposition parties also asked the government to take action on the staff of the Bhadragiri hospital who had reportedly failed to provide an ambulance for the family members of 65-year-old woman Radhamma. According to locals, the woman died of various health issues in the hospital on Friday and her body was carried in the garbage vehicle in the absence of an ambulance facility.

The private ambulance drivers demanded ₹2,500 to shift the body, which the family members did not have, forcing members of the family to carry the body to their home, nearly two km away from the hospital. The pathetic condition of the family went viral in social media and caught the attention of all sections of society. Araku MP Gumma Thanuja Rani, YSRCP-Parvathipuram Manyam District president Shatrucharla Parikshit Raju, Congress Party leader Vangala Dalinaidu sought an inquiry over the incident.

Meanwhile, hospital services in-charge officer G. Naga Bhusana Rao said that Radhamma family had taken away the body in their ‘rickshaw’ as the house was only 1 km away from Bhadragiri hospital.

District Collector N. Prabhakar Reddy directed hospital authorities to ensure a respectable last journey for the bodies from hospitals located in the district. He asked them to provide ambulances or other vehicles without any charge for poor families in such an eventuality.