Maharashtra: No Ambulance, Parents Forced To Carry Sons' Bodies On Shoulder For 15 KM

A young Maharashtra couple was forced to carry the bodies of their two dead sons – aged less than 10 years – on their shoulders for 15 kilometres due to the non-availability of an ambulance in the vicinity. A video of the couple wading through a muddy forest path with their sons’ bodies went viral on social media.

According to reports, the two boys had succumbed to a fever after allegedly failing to get proper treatment on time. The couple carried their bodies from a hospital to their village home 15 km away, in the Gadchiroli district.

The case was highlighted by Congress leader Vijay Wadettiwar. Sharing a video of the couple on microblogging site X, the Leader of Opposition (LoP) in the Maharashtra Assembly said, “The couple is from Aheri taluka of Gadchiroli district, carrying the ‘dead bodies’ of both the siblings on their shoulders, searching for a way through the mud. The two siblings were suffering from fever, but they did not get the treatment on time. Within a couple of hours, their condition deteriorated and barely in the next one hour, the two boys succumbed.”

“There was no ambulance to even transfer the two minors’ bodies to their village, Pattigaon and the parents were compelled to walk 15 km through the rain-soaked muddy path. A grim reality of the healthcare system of Gadchiroli has again come to the fore today,” he added.

Wadettiwar pointed out Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis is the Guardian Minister of Gadchiroli while NCP’s Dharmarao Baba Atram, the MLA from Aheri seat, is an FDA Minister in Chief Minister Eknath Shinde’s government.

“Both make claims of how the state can develop every day by conducting events all over Maharashtra. They should go down to the ground level and see how the people live in Gadchiroli and the death toll there,” Wadettiwar added.