‘No dignity in death’: Elderly Dalit man’s body taken to Mahanga CHC in trolley-rickshaw (The Indian Express)

The incident came to the fore after a video clip of the body being carried on the rickshaw went viral on social media here on Sunday.

CUTTACK: In yet another instance of administrative apathy, the body of a 78-year-old man was carried on a trolley-rickshaw from Ajana Matha to Mahanga CHC after local police allegedly instructed family members to take it to the hospital for postmortem without helping in arranging a hearse vehicle.

The incident came to the fore after a video clip of the body being carried on the rickshaw went viral on social media here on Sunday. The deceased was identified as Biranchi Narayan Jena of Jankothi under Nrutanga gram panchayat. According to his son Chandrasekhar Jena, Biranchi was mentally unstable and had gone missing seven days back following which he filed a missing complaint with Mahanga police.

While police allegedly took no step to trace the missing man, some locals found Biranchi’s highly decomposed body in a jungle near Ajanta Matha on Saturday and informed his family. When the family members took the matter to the police, the latter, instead of rushing to the spot and starting an investigation, allegedly asked them to take the body to Mahanga CHC for postmortem.

This story was originally published in newindianexpress.com. Read the full story here .

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