MP minister orders probe after video surfaces of 8-year-old boy sitting on roadside with body of his kid brother

After a heart-wrenching video came to light from Morena district of Madhya Pradesh wherein an eight-year-old boy was seen sitting on the roadside carrying the body of his two-year-old brother in his lap for hours, state Home Minister Narottam Mishra on Monday ordered a probe.

Speaking to reporters, Mishra said, "When the child was declared dead by the doctor, his father handed over his body to the child (deceased's brother) and went to a relative. The government took it seriously and ordered CEO Zila Panchayat to probe the matter."

The minister informed that a show cause notice was served to the civil surgeon of the hospital and the father has been provided financial help from the state government.

"Show cause notice was served to civil surgeon. Rs 10,000 has been given from Red Cross, an amount from Sambal Scheme also has been given and money from another scheme is also being given to him," added Mishra

According to reports, Poojaram Jatav, a resident of Ambah tehsil of Morena, had brought his two-year-old ailing son to the district hospital where the child died during treatment.

The report said Jatav did not get any vehicle from the hospital to take the child's body to the village. Later an ambulance driver asked Rs 1,500 to take the body to the village but Jatav did not have that much money.

When no vehicle was found in the hospital premises to take his child's body to the village, Jatav made his 8-year-old son sit on the roadside with the younger son's body in his lap and set out in search of the vehicle himself.

The 8-year-old boy sat for hours with his younger brother's body in his lap, waiting for his father to return. The video of the child sitting on the roadside with the body of his brother went viral on social media. In the video, flies were seen sitting on the body of the child.

Congress attacked the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government over the incident and questioned the health system in Madhya Pradesh.

Sharing the video on Twitter, Congress said, "This painful picture is making people emotional and creating anger against the health systems in Madhya Pradesh. In Madhya Pradesh, an eight-year-old boy has the body of his younger brother in his arms and the father sets out to find an ambulance. This is the truth of PM Modi's arrangements!"

(ANI)