Odisha Sun Times Bureau
Kendrapara, Dec 22:

While the infamous incident of Dana Majhi carrying the corpse of his wife on his shoulders in Kalahandi due to his inability to afford conveyance is yet to fade away from the memories of people, a similar heart wrenching incident has come to fore in Rajkanika block of Odisha's Kendrapara district.

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Sarat Barik of Kothasahi village under Rajkanika block had to carry his father Rabi Narayan Barik's body on his shoulders due to unavailability of hearse or any conveyance at the community health centre (CHC) where the latter was admitted.

According to reports, Sarat's father was yesterday admitted to a local CHC due to jaundice. However, he died while undergoing treatment.

As Sarat didn't had a single penny to arrange a conveyance to carry his father's body back to the village, he requested the CHC authorities to help him.

The hospital authorities denied to help the poor man saying that there is no such facility at the CHC.

With no other options left, Sarat carried his father's body on his shoulders for about one km and was assisted by his uncle who reached the spot after receiving the sad news.

In midway, a person helped Sarat by allowing the body to be carried on his bike to the village. Later, the deceased's final rites were conducted in the village.

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Ironically, the Health Officer-in-charge of the CHC was unaware of the incident even after the body was kept on the verandah of the hospital for more than 2 hours.

"I was attending a meeting of the panchayat samiti when the incident took place. There is no facility of any conveyance in the CHC for carrying corpses," said Dr Ajit Das, Health Officer-in-charge of the CHC.