Denied ambulance, J&K family carry dead baby in carton

A nomad family had to carry their dead baby in a carton after hospital authorities allegedly denied an ambulance to the distraught parents to go home in Udhampur district of Jammu division. The incident occurred on Saturday night when a pregnant woman went into labour at home in remote Sud Mahadev village of Udhampur. She was immediately shifted to Chenani hospital from where she was referred to the district hospital in Udhampur.

The family alleged that hospital authorities in Chenani denied them an ambulance and they had to hire a private vehicle to reach Udhampur. “We came to Udhampur at 11 pm and there was no doctor for three hours. Only nurses were there. We were asked to get the X-ray and untrasound done. After that, doctors said the baby had died in womb,” said Akal Din, a family member.

What, however, sent shock waves across the state was the alleged denial of an ambulance to the family to carry the body home. “We were pleading for a vehicle but the hospital did not pay heed to us. We even requested the deputy commissioner. Later we took the baby in a carton”, said Akal Din.

District Development Commissioner (DDC), Udhampur, Ravinder Kumar however refuted the charges, saying they were asked to wait for 15 to 20 minutes for the ambulance, but they left without any intimation.