Municipal garbage truck instead of hearse-Corpse sent home by a Government hospital in MP

In a shocking display of insensitivity, the corpse of a woman in MP’s Chhatarpur was transported from a government hospital to her village in a municipal garbage vehicle after the family was unable to arrange a hearse, exposing a basic infrastructure gap at a civil hospital where authorities admitted that a dedicated vehicle for the purpose had been sought repeatedly but not provided.

The incident took place at Bada Malhera Civil Hospital after the body of Rukhsana Khan, who had been missing since July 4, was recovered from a garbage dump on the Surajpur Road a month later. Suspecting it to be a murder, the body was sent to the hospital for a postmortem examination, after which the family was informed to take the body home.

According to her husband, Babalej Ahirwar, the body was eventually handed over to the family on a school tractor-trolley. Ahirwar alleged that the vehicle provided was used for garbage collection, adding that the family waited for hours for a hearse. “Every person wants dignity, if not in life then at least after death. It was very painful to see my wife’s body being taken in a garbage vehicle,” he said.

In response to the statement by the family members, the hospital administration said that it did not have a dedicated hearse. Bada Malhera Block Medical Officer Dr Hemant Maraiya said the requirement for a hearse van had been raised several times at district-level meetings, but the facility had not received one because the required budget or approval under the relevant head had not been sanctioned.

“We don’t have a hearse van so we depend on the Nagar Parishad. During a recent District Health Society (DHS) meeting, we asked for a hearse van. I hope that we will get it in the future as this will do a lot of good for the public at large,” Dr Maraiya said.

Meanwhile, an inquiry has been ordered into the incident and officials said appropriate action will be taken once the facts are established.