In a horrific incident which came to the attention on Tuesday from Chhattisgarh,  a two-month-old infant in Raipur died due to suffocation as the door of the ambulance ferrying him to the hospital got jammed. The matter didn't end there and to add to worries of the parents who lost their child, they were denied a hearse van. As a result of which, they had to carry the deceased child in an auto-rickshaw to the cremation ground.

Reportedly, when the father of the deceased child tried to break open the doors of the ambulance, he was stopped from doing so and warned against damaging the government property. The parents were asked to wait until someone opened the door. However, when the staff failed to do so, the glass door at the back was broken, and the child was pulled out, but it was too late by then.

The child was expected to undergo cardiac surgery at the Dr Bhim Rao Ambedkar Hospital. The parents were recommended by doctors at AIIMS in Delhi to treat their child at the medical facility. They had arrived in Raipur from the national capital on Monday.

This is not the first time that a hearse van has been denied to a deceased. There have been several incidents, which we keep reading, where due to the unavailability or denial of a hearse van, family of the deceased either carry them on their motorcycle or on their shoulders. A week back, a man brought the dead body of his mother on a bike for post-mortem after being allegedly denied a hearse van by district hospital in Mohangarh, Madhya Pradesh. In another similar incident, a man carried the dead body of his wife on his shoulders because he was not given a hearse van.

In spite of the state government ordering health departments to ensure that the dead are treated with respect and dignity. These shocking cases of medical apathy make us wonder what exactly is the price of human life!

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 18, 2018 11:40 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).