Nurse, security agency sacked in Majhi incident

Bhubaneswar, Aug 27 (PTI) A male nurse was sacked and asecurity agency at Kalahandi district headquarters hospitaldisengaged from service today for "negligence" in providing ahearse to a tribal man who had to walk 10 km carrying hiswife’s body on his shoulder on Wednesday. "The chief district medical officer (CDMO) todaydisengaged a male staff nurse and the security agency whichwere on duty on Wednesday. They were found guilty in thepreliminary enquiry into the incident," Kalahandi DistrictCollector Brundha D said. CDMO B K Barhma said the hospital had the facility fortransporting bodies from hospital to the residence of thedeceased persons. "Our hearse usually is engaged for about 25 days amonth," Barhma said adding Dana Majhi’s case was not reportedto the authorities by the male nurse Rajendra Rana. Rana was on duty on Tuesday night when Dana Majhi’s wifeAmang Dei (42) died of tuberculosis. Though Majhi had informedhim about the death of his wife and asked for a vehicle fortransporting the body, Rana allegedly told him to take awaythe body on his own, officials said. About the ‘fault’ of the security agency, they said, itis the duty of the agency staff to verify death certificatebefore allowing a body to be taken out of the hospital campus.However, Majhi had gone out of the hospital carrying the bodywithout a death certificate. Meanwhile, Melghara village in Kalahandi districtwitnessed a huge crowd as journalists and a Congress factfinding team came to meet Majhi and his 12-year-old daughter. "As my wife died in the night, I called the hospitalstaff present in the ward. He told me to take away the body. Idid not know whether the hospital issues death certificate orarrange vehicle to carry the body. It took 30 minutes to wrapthe body in a cloth and console my daughter before I startedwalking to my village," Majhi told the Congress team. The video recording of the conversation between Majhi andCongress leader Bhakta Charan Das was shown to journalists atat Bhawanipatna, headquarters of the district. "This is inhuman. It shows the anti-tribal attitude ofthe Naveen Patnaik government. It must announce a high-levelprobe into the incident and compensation of Rs 10 lakh forMajhi’s family," Das said. PTI COR AAM SKN NNNSD