Samastipur (Bihar), Jun 9 (PTI) An elderly couple was allegedly forced to beg on the streets to collect Rs 50,000 to pay as a bribe to an employee of a government hospital in Bihar's Samastipur district for getting their son's body released from there.

After a video showing the couple begging has gone viral, the authorities ordered a probe into the matter and handed over the body to his parents.

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“This is shame on humanity," Samastipur Civil Surgeon SK Chaudhary told reporters.

Mahesh Thakur, the father of the deceased, said his son had gone missing on May 25 and his body was found in Bejhadih village in the district on June 7. The local police sent the body to the mortuary of Samastipur district hospital.

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After Thakur came to know about it, he went to the hospital and identified the body.

“An employee of the mortuary demanded Rs 50,000 to release the body of my son. We are poor people, how can we pay that hefty amount?" Thakur said.

So, he and his wife started begging money from people but managed to collect only Rs 2000. Thakur claimed he requested the employee to accept that and release his son's body, but in vain.

“After that, we decided to perform the last rites of our son without collecting the body,” he said.

The civil surgeon said a committee has been formed to probe the matter.

“Strict action will be taken against those who will be found guilty,” Chaudhary said.

Reacting to the report, election strategist-turned-politician Prashant Kishor targeted Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar over his claims of “sushasan” (good governance).

“Humanity is ashamed, yet #NitishKumar's claim of good governance is intact!!!” Kishor tweeted in Hindi.

Shiv Sena MP from Maharashtra, Priyanka Chaturvedi, urged Kumar to take strict action against the hospital, saying the matter is “depressing to the core”.

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