Horrendous: No Aid For Pregnant Woman In MP, Dalit Woman Hit In UP

The first incident took place at MP's Raneh village, 60 km from the Damoh district headquarters on Tuesday (Pic: Screengrab from viral video)

Authorities have started an inquiry after a video showing the husband of a pregnant woman carrying her to hospital on a push-cart for want of ambulance emerged from Madhya Pradesh’s Damoh district.

When Kailash Ahirwal and his wife reached the local government-run Arogya Kendra (Govt. Health Centre) after the one-km journey, there was no doctor or nurse there, he alleged. The incident took place at Raneh village, 60 km from the Damoh district headquarters on Tuesday, and a video of Ahirwal taking his wife to avail medical care on a push-cart has gone viral on social media.

R P Kori, block medical officer at Hatta, said he had come across the video and an inquiry will be conducted. Notices will be issued to the concerned employees as to why an ambulance was not provided to ferry the pregnant woman to hospital, he said.

Ahirwal said that after his wife began to have labour pains on Tuesday, he called the 108 government ambulance service but no ambulance came for two hours. He then put her on a push-cart and took her to the local Arogya Kendra where no nurse or doctor was available, he claimed.

Later, she was shifted to Hatta by a government ambulance, but after not getting proper treatment there, she was shifted to the Damoh district hospital where she is now under medical supervision, he added.

Meanwhile, in Uttar Pradesh, a Dalit woman and her minor son were allegedly assaulted and subjected to casteist slurs by the representative of the gram pradhan and his companion, a police official said on Wednesday. The accused were identified as the village head’s representative Santosh Yadav and his companion Sant Kumar Yadav, the official said.

Jai Shree and her son were allegedly harassed in full public view and locked out of their house in Kallapur Saraiharra village on Sunday, Superintendent of Police Akash Tomar said.

According to police, the woman’s daughter had a court marriage on August 16 with a man from the same village, who also belonged to the same caste. The couple got married with the consent of their families. However, the girl’s grandmother was not happy with the marriage and on her initiative, a panchayat was called, the SP said.

During the panchayat, Santosh and Sant Kumar publicly harassed the woman and her son, he said. A purported video of the incident recorded by a bystander also surfaced on the internet, police said. A case under sections of the Indian Penal Code and SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act was registered against the two at Nawabganj police station on Tuesday evening, the SP said.

The woman returned to her house after the lock was removed, he said, adding the inspector-in-charge of the area has been directed to provide security to the victim’s family. (PTI)