In visuals shot by a local journalist in Madhya Pradesh’s Morena town on Saturday, an 8-year-old boy Gulshan was seen sitting with the body of his 2-year-old brother Raja while their father Poojaram Jatav, a man of limited means, desperately looked for a vehicle to take them home.
The video sent shock wave across the nation.
According to NDTV, Raja died during treatment after he suffered from anaemia and ascites.
Poojaram Jatav pleaded with the doctors and staff of the Morena District Hospital for a vehicle to take the body back to his village, around 30 km away. He said to NDTV that he was turned down and told the hospital did not have a vehicle at hand, and he would have to pay for one outside.
An ambulance operator asked for ₹ 1,500 – much more than what he could afford, he said.
Poojaram is a single father of four.
The grief-stricken father left his 8-year-old son Gulshan in front of Morena’s Nehru Park as he went to look for a ride back home that he could afford.
According to NDTV, for half an hour, Gulshan sat there, his dead brother’s head on his lap, eyes gazing out for his father’s return.
After A crowd gathered and someone alerted the authorities, a police officer named Yogendra Singh picked up the body and led Gulshan back to the district hospital where Poojaram and his sons were given an ambulance to make their way home.
