A heart-rending incident has emerged from Jharkhand’s West Singhbhum district, exposing the insensitivity of the government healthcare system and bringing shame to basic human values. After the death of a four-month-old Tribal infant during treatment at Chaibasa Sadar Hospital, the hospital administration failed to make any arrangement to transport the body back home. As a result, the impoverished Tribal family was forced to carry their child’s body in a plastic bag while returning to their village.
According to the bereaved family, Dimba Chatomba, a resident of Baljori village under the Noamundi block, had brought his four-month-old ailing son to Chaibasa Sadar Hospital for treatment on Thursday. During his stay at the hospital, the infant’s condition continued to deteriorate, and he succumbed on Friday afternoon.
The family alleged that after the child’s death, they repeatedly requested the hospital authorities to provide a vehicle or ambulance to transport the body to their village. They claimed they waited for several hours within the hospital परिसर, but no assistance was provided. Neither an ambulance nor any alternative arrangement was made.
The family further alleged that the hospital administration showed no sensitivity toward their plight. Ultimately, due to extreme financial hardship and helplessness, the family placed the infant’s body in a plastic bag and somehow managed to return to their village, Baljori. The grief, tears, and helplessness of the family members were clearly visible.
Following the incident, there has been widespread anger among local residents and social organisations. People have pointed out that while the government makes tall claims about healthcare facilities and ambulance services, the ground reality remains deeply disturbing. Questions are being raised about how poor and Tribal communities can expect justice and compassion when such treatment is meted out to them in government hospitals.
So far, no official statement has been issued by the hospital administration. It also remains unclear why a mortuary vehicle was not provided and what action, if any, will be taken against the officials responsible.
The incident once again highlights the deplorable state of Jharkhand’s healthcare system, administrative apathy in Tribal regions, and the systemic insensitivity toward the poor. The pressing question now is whether those responsible will be held accountable, or if this case too will be buried in official files like so many others.
