New Delhi: In a tragic incident, a man in West Bengal’s North Dinajpur district travelled around 200 km carrying the body of his five-month-old child in a bag after he was unable to pay the exorbitant fees demanded by the ambulance driver, reported news agency ANI.
Asim Devasharma, the father of the deceased child, is a resident of Dangipara village in Mustafanagar Grampanchayat.
While speaking to the reporters, Devasharma on Sunday said, “My child died on Saturday night at North Dinajpur’s North Bengal Medical College and Hospital. I had already spent Rs 16,000 on the treatment and had no money to pay for an ambulance. The ambulance drivers demanded Rs 8,000 to carry out the task. I was shocked.”
He added, “Seeing no way out, I packed the dead child in a bag and took the bus from medical college back to Kaliaganj.”
While narrating the incident, he stated that it took place on May 7 when both of his twins fell seriously ill.
After being initially admitted to Kaliaganj State General Hospital, they were later taken to the North Bengal Medical College Hospital for further treatment, he said.
On Thursday, his wife returned home with one of the kids after he was released from the hospital. Unfortunately, on Saturday night, his other child died while undergoing treatment.
Unable to pay the ambulance charges, Debsharma claimed that he put the body in a bag and boarded a private bus from Bengal’s Siliguri to Raiganj and then took another bus to reach his hometown, Kaliaganj.
Upon reaching the Vivekananda intersection in Kaliaganj, Devasharma sought help and arranged for an ambulance.
The incident attracted the attention of political leaders. While BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari questioned the credibility of Trinamool Congress’ ‘Swasthya Sathi’ scheme, the TMC accused the saffron party of indulging in politics over the unfortunate death of a child.
Tweeting the matter with videos of the man speaking to the media, Adhikari wrote: "This is Ashim Debsharma; father of a 5-month-old infant who died in a Medical College in Siliguri. He was being charged Rs. 8,000 to transport the dead body of his child. Unfortunately, he couldn’t pay the money after spending Rs. 16,000 in the past few days during the treatment. So he kept the dead body of the child in a bag & boarded a public bus to return to his home at Mustafanagor Village in Kaliyaganj; Uttar Dinajpur district."
TMC Rajya Sabha MP Santanu Sen, on the other hand, accused the BJP of trying to play dirty politics with the unfortunate death of a child.