Man carries home son's body in bag after failing to afford ambulance, North Bengal Medical College and Hospital claims ignorance

The man was forced to carry his son's body in bag as the private ambulance operator charged Rs 8000 and hearse-van could not be arranged.

Siliguri:A poor migrant worker carried his five-month-old son's body in a bag from the hospital to his home yesterday as he could not afford a private ambulance or arrange a hearse-van. The North Bengal Medical College and Hospital, where his son died on Saturday, has shrugged off their responsibility saying they were not informed that ambulance was unavailable.

Asim Devasharma, a wager from Kaliaganj in North Dinajpur district had initially admitted his son at Kaliaganj state general hospital. But, the hospital had referred them to the Raiganj Medical College and Hospital and then were referred to North Bengal Medical College and Hospital. The boy was suffering from septicemia and died on May 13 at North Bengal Medical College and Hospital.

Devasharma said that he had approached a private ambulance operator to carry the body home. "The ambulance charged Rs 8,000 for taking the body from Siliguri to Kaliaganj. It was impossible for me to arrange such a huge amount. I had no option other than carrying the body myself in a bag the next day," Devsharma said.

Authorities of the North Bengal Medical College and Hospital however claimed that they were in the dark over the incident. "If we had known that the patient's relatives were facing difficulty in getting an ambulance then we would have surely made some arrangements," Dr Indrajit Saha, principal of the hospital said. "The patient's father neither informed the hospital authorities nor lodged any complaint with us. If we had received a complaint then it would have been investigated," he added.

Superintendent Sanjay Mallick said that the hospital does not have a hearse-van or an ambulance but arrangements are made if any family faces difficulty. In such cases, arrangements are made from the fund of the hospital's patient welfare association, he added.

The incident has sparked off a political controversy in the state. Anandmoy Barman, MLA of Matigara Naxalbari and member of the Patient Welfare Association said: "It is an unfortunate incident. It is a shame for the hospital authorities."