edited by: Oindrila Mukherjee
Last Update: January 05, 2023, 23:59 IST
The father-son duo told the ambulance service that they would only be able to pay Rs 1,200, but the drivers refused to help them. (Image: News18/Video grab)
The father-son duo carried the body on their shoulders, passers-by started recording their video, but no one came forward to help them
A man in his over 70 years was seen carrying his wife’s mortal remains on his shoulders at the Jalpaiguri Super Specialty Hospital on Thursday after he and his son could not avail ambulance services. The father-son duo claimed that the ambulance took them Rs 3,000 from their residence in Kranti, which is 50 km from the hospital.
The man, Joy Krishna Dewan, and his son, Ram Prasad Dewan, carried Lakhi Dewan on their shoulders from the house to the hospital. They said they were poor and told the ambulance service that they would only be able to pay Rs 1,200, but the drivers refused to help them.
Ram Prasad said that his mother Lakhi passed away late on Wednesday night and he requested an ambulance the next morning to take his mother to the hospital, but it was charging him Rs 3,000. “We live in Kranti, which is 50 km from Jalpaiguri. He asked for Rs 3,000; I told him that I would be able to pay only Rs 1200 but the driver did not agree. We are poor, what can we do? he said.
Even as he and his father were carrying his mother’s body, Ram Prasad said passers-by started recording their videos, but no one came forward to help them. The video went viral, and finally an NGO came to the rescue.
“We have a patient support system; I think he didn’t know about it. Asking money from an ambulance is an insensitive act. We have alerted everyone about our free ambulance service. They (father and son) were probably unaware of it,” said Kalyan Kha, medical superintendent-cum-vice-principal of Jalpaiguri Super Specialty Hospital.
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