Chhattisgarh: Father carries daughter's body on shoulders for 10 km; probe ordered

Chhattisgarh Health Min TS Singh Deo has ordered a probe after a video of a man carrying the body of his daughter on his shoulders went viral. The heart-rending incident took place in the Surguja district of the state.

Surguja: A video of a father carrying the body of his seven-year-old daughter on his shoulders in Chhattisgarh's Surguja district went viral on social media on Friday, prompting health minister TS Singh Deo to order an investigation into the incident. The girl died on Friday morning at the Community Health Centre at Lakhanpur village in the district, and her father took the body away before a hearse arrived, officials said.

Ishwar Das, a native of Amdala village, had brought his ailing daughter Surekha to Lakhanpur CHC early in the morning, they said, adding that the child's oxygen level was very low. According to her parents, she was suffering from a high fever for the last few days and despite the medical treatment provided, her health condition had worsened and she died around 7:30 am, said Dr Vinod Bhargav, Rural Medical Assistant (RMA) posted at the health centre. We told the family members that a hearse will arrive soon. It came around 9:20 am, but by then they had left with the body, he added.

In the viral footage, the father can be seen carrying the body on his shoulders. He covered a distance of around 10 km on foot to reach home in Amdala. After the video went viral on social media, Health Minister Singh Deo, who was in Ambikapur, the district's headquarters, on Friday, asked the district's Chief Medical and Health Officer to probe the matter and take necessary action.

"I saw the video. It was disturbing. I have told the CMHO to take appropriate action after getting the matter probed. I have told him that those who are posted there but are not able to discharge their duties should be removed," Deo told reporters. "The health personnel who were on duty should have persuaded the family to wait for the vehicle. They should have ensured such things did not happen," the minister said.