Medical apathy in UP: Elderly man takes away wife on handcart as hospital denies treatment; father carries daughter’s corpse in hand

BAREILLY: Two harrowing videos from the Bareilly District Hospital have surfaced over the past 48 hours, casting a grim light on the state of healthcare in Uttar Pradesh. The footage highlights the profound struggles of poor patients and the perceived apathy of hospital administration.

One video purportedly shows a hapless elderly man taking away his wife on a handcart after she was denied treatment even after waiting for several hours, while the other shows a father carrying his daughter’s corpse in hand to the postmortem house.

The distressed elderly woman on the handcart is heard saying that neither any doctor nor other paramedical staff attended to her even though she waited for several hours on Saturday. A doctor told the couple to go somewhere else, following which her husband opted to take her home on the cart, fearing her condition would worsen while waiting.

Two days before this, a father was filmed carrying his child’s body in his arms from a hospital ward to an autorickshaw, as no stretcher was made available to him.

The videos were circulated widely on social media on Saturday, drawing sharp reactions and prompting district magistrate Avinash Singh to constitute a three-member inquiry committee comprising the ADM (city), ADM (finance and revenue) and the chief medical officer. The panel has been asked to submit its findings within three days.

“Negligence will not be tolerated. Action will be taken against those found guilty,” DM Singh said, adding “a notice has been issued to the doctor who ‘referred’ the woman patient.”

CMO Dr Vishram Singh told TOI, “The committee visited the hospital for an investigation and a few facts and points need to be checked, following which the report will be submitted to DM. It is too early to comment on the videos.”