A 10-year-old boy in Uttar Pradesh’s Etah district was forced to bring his mother’s body alone for a post-mortem examination after she died during treatment for tuberculosis and HIV at a district hospital.
A 10-year-old boy in Uttar Pradesh’s Etah district was forced to bring his mother’s body alone for a post-mortem examination after she died during treatment for tuberculosis and HIV at a district hospital. With no relatives or neighbours accompanying him, the boy sat beside his mother’s body for hours on Thursday, clutching the stretcher and waiting in silence, until local police were finally alerted and stepped in to help arrange the autopsy and cremation.
The boy's father had died last year due to HIV, after which the family was pushed into social isolation. The child told TOI outside the post-mortem house, "When Papa got AIDS, everyone stopped speaking to us."
His schooling came to an abrupt halt after his father’s death. "I used to go to school when he was alive, but after his death, I had to stop. I looked after Mummy. She was being treated in Etah and was even taken to Kanpur and Lohia Hospital in Farrukhabad. My uncle didn't even know she died," he said.
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The woman, aged 52, had been admitted to Veerangana Avanti Bai Medical College in Etah, where she died on Wednesday night. The next morning, her son accompanied only by hospital staff who placed her body on a stretcher made his way to the post-mortem facility.
Hospital staff and onlookers said the boy remained close to his mother’s covered body, his eyes swollen from crying. He refused to move or eat, guarding her corpse until officials arrived.
A few distant relatives eventually reached the mortuary, including an uncle who travelled nearly 60 km from Kasganj.
Jaithra SHO Ritesh Kumar said, "We were informed that a child was alone with the body. I sent a sub-inspector and a constable to the spot. The boy had no one, and we arranged for her last rites."
District health officials confirmed the case, noting that the woman had completed tuberculosis treatment years earlier. Etah chief medical officer Dr Rajendra Prasad said, “She was cured and discharged. At that time, we gave her all the benefits that govt provides. We are now reviewing the present situation.”
