Pune: A family was allegedly compelled to carry the body of their 95-year-old grandmother to the mortuary in an autorickshaw due to unavailability of a hearse driver in Pune.
The nonagenarian passed away at her residence on Monday night in Nava Modikhana camp area of Pune. The family decided to take the body to the mortuary of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Hospital, which located around 500 metres away from their residence.
At around 10 pm, they went to get a hearse van to carry the body to a mortuary and accordingly, all relatives reached Dhobi Ghat. However, no hearse driver or ambulance driver was available at the hospital that time. Despite several attempts the family could not get in touch with the vehicle head and his assistant.
The relatives then decided to take the deceased to the mortuary in an autorickshaw. They boarded an autorickshaw with the body. The family alleged that when they reached the hospital they found that the mortuary was closed. They tried to contact the hospital officials but the on-duty nurses allegedly did not help them. Also, when they went to the resident medical officer's bunglow they found that it was locked, family members complained.
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Finally, they went to the mortuary at Sassoon Hospital. The Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Hospital, however, denied the allegations saying they were not informed by the family about unavailability of ambulance driver. Hospital management accepted there is a manpower shortage but refuted allegations leveled by the family of failing to reach out to doctors and nurses.
