A 35-year-old man from Odisha's Koraput district walked several kilometres with his wife's body on his shoulder after she died in an auto-rickshaw while returning from a hospital in neighbouring Andhra Pradesh on Wednesday, February 8. Policemen spotted Samulu Pangi and arranged an ambulance to take the body of his wife Ide Guru (30) to his native village Sorada in Pottangi block.
Pangi had admitted his ailing wife at a hospital in Sangivalasa in Visakhapatnam district of Andhra Pradesh. However, the doctors there said she was not responding to treatment and advised him to take her back home, around 100 kilometres away. Pangi said he hired an auto-rickshaw for returning to his village but Guru died midway near Vizianagaram. The auto driver then refused to continue the journey and dropped them on Chelluru Ring Road before leaving the spot.
Finding no other way, Pangi started walking towards their home, which was still around 80 kilometres away, carrying his wife's body on his shoulder. After some time, alerted by local people, Vizianagaram Rural Circle Inspector TV Tirupati Rao and Gantyada Sub-Inspector Kiran Kumar stopped him.
Initially, the Andhra Pradesh policemen had difficulty communicating with Pangi due to a language barrier. Later, a translator was found, and after understanding what had happened, the police arranged for an ambulance that took Pangi and his wife's body to his village.
This incident is a reminder of a 2016 incident at Bhawanipatna in Odisha when another man, Dana Majhi, walked for around 12 kilometres carrying the body of his wife on his shoulder after being denied a hearse by a hospital. The incident hit international headlines and caused embarrassment for the government in Odisha.