By Purushottam Nayak
Kandhamal: Church officials and activists have expressed concern over a man who was forced to carry his wife’s body in Kandhamal, Odisha.
“This is a serious blot on humanity whether Tribal, Dalit or anybody,” said Archbishop John Barwa of Cuttack-Bhubaneswar reacting to a news report about Balakrushna Kanhar, whose wife died in a hospital July 1.
The woman, belonging to Kandh tribe and a resident of Motingia village, was admitted in the district hospital on June 29 with severe anemia and respiratory distress. After her death, her husband sought a hearse to take her body, but none in the hospital helped him. So, Kanhar carried his wife’s body to ground floor from the female ward on the second floor.
On the ground floor, he found a stretcher and, after the placing the body on it, dragged it to the hearse. The hearse driver refused to help transfer the body to the vehicle.
Expressing profound pain and shock at the incident, Archbishop Barwa demanded the authorities take “strong disciplinary action” against those responsible.
John Digal, a Pentecostal pastor in Sundingia, 3 km from Motingia village, condemned the incident as shameful. “An innocent tribal facing such difficulties in the district headquarter is shameful for our society,” regretted the 55-year-old pastor.
“We are poor and marginalized, nobody is on our side in the time of hopeless situation,” he added.
Prassana Bishyoi, an academic counselor at the Phulbani unit of the Indira Gandhi National Open University, sees the incident as discrimination and a “clear sign” of the medical staff’s apathy towards the poor.
Father Lameswar Kanhar of Archdiocese of Cuttack-Bhubaneswar wants the government to suspend those responsible for the incident.
“Nobody wants to touch any patient because of the coronavirus pandemic. We have become selfish and lost our human concern,” he added.
Human rights activist and lawyer Sister Sujata Jena sees the “disheartening” incident as indication of the poor health system in Odisha.
“In rural Odisha hardly a panchayat with over 10,000 has a healthcare center with basic amenities minimum regular healthcare professionals. As a result, the poor who are mostly tribals and Dalits become the victims,” regretted the member of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary.
According to her, the incident is not the first such case. Many villagers may have undergone similar or worse experience. The government does not give priority to medical center, she added.
A similar incident took place in 2016 where Dana Majhi, another tribal carried his wife’s dead body on his shoulders for 12 km because he was not given a vehicle from the hospital.