Hyderabad, May 25 (IANS) In a shocking incident, a family in Telangana was forced to carry a relative’s body on their shoulders after a government hospital failed to provide them with a hearse vehicle.
The incident occurred in Bhadrachalam town, Bhadradri Kothagudem district, on Sunday.
Kandi Venkanna (45), who suffered heatstroke and was undergoing treatment at a government hospital in Bhadrachalam, succumbed on Sunday night.
The hospital staff failed to arrange a vehicle to transport the body. With no other option available due to the family’s poor financial condition, they were forced to carry the body on their shoulders.
Videos and photographs of Venkanna’s family carrying his body on their shoulders were widely shared on social media.
Taking note of the same, the district administration ordered an inquiry on Monday.
The incident has triggered outrage, with authorities facing sharp criticism for failing to arrange a hearse.
Opposition parties have slammed the Congress government over the incident.
“Is this the ‘Praja Palana’ (people’s rule) people were promised?” asked Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) leader T. Harish Rao.
The former minister said the condition of Telangana’s public healthcare system under the Congress government was becoming deeply disturbing and heartbreaking.
Referring to another incident, he said that in Tandur, a poor pregnant woman was forced to deliver her baby on a railway platform after 108 ambulance services reportedly failed to respond despite repeated calls.
“In Bhadrachalam, a poor family had to carry the dead body of their relative on their shoulders because the hospital allegedly failed to provide even a hearse vehicle,” he said.
BRS working president K. T. Rama Rao said the incident was enough to understand how terribly Telangana had deteriorated under Congress rule.
“No support even when alive… This Congress government has brought Telangana to a state where even the minimum respect isn’t accorded after death,” he posted on X.
Referring to the previous Bharat Rashtra Samithi government, he said that during KCR’s tenure, special vehicles for transporting mortal remains were arranged to ensure that even the last journey of a poor person proceeded with dignity.
“That is humanity… That is the resolve to protect the people’s dignity. But today, under Congress’s rule, it’s heartbreaking. It’s a stain on Telangana’s self-respect that family members themselves have to carry the bodies on their shoulders,” he said.
Telangana Rakshana Sena (TRS) leader K. Kavitha said the incident once again proved the ruthlessness of the Revanth Reddy government towards the poor.
She alleged that even to transport the body of a person who lost their life due to a heatwave, the Bhadrachalam government hospital administration did not provide a hearse vehicle.
“Reading the news that the financially struggling family carried the body on their shoulders for over a kilometre brings tears to the heart,” she said.
Kavitha said the Revanth Reddy government must bear moral responsibility for the incident and demanded strict action against the officials responsible.
–IANS
ms/dan
