No hearse, family of dead girl takes body in wheeled stretcher

Phulbani: Unable to get a hearse to carry the body of a teenaged girl who was brought dead to the district headquarters hospital here, the relatives took the body in a wheeled stretcher in a procession through the streets drawing public attention to the apathy.

Only when the procession reached the district police headquarters, about a kilometre from the hospital, did the Kandhamal district administration provide a vehicle.

The sub-divisional police officer of Phulbani, S N Murmu, said that the girl from Benangpaju village had drowned while taking bath and was brought to the hospital early in the morning.

After the doctors declared the girl "brought dead", her relatives and other concerned villagers had asked the hospital authorities to provide a hearse to take away the body. Though they waited there for two and a half hours for the vehicle, there was no response from the hospital authorities.

Collector of Kandhamal Brunda D has ordered an inquiry into the incident and asked for the report within the next 48 hours.

Guna Nidhi Bhuyan, the father of the girl, said, We waited for over two and a half hours for the hearse to arrive."