A man has alleged that he was forced to carry the body of his newborn baby boy in a bag and travel in a passenger bus after a government hospital in Madhya Pradesh's Jabalpur, where he died during treatment, refused to provide any mortuary vehicle saying no such facility was available.

The incident occurred on June 15, he said.

A state health department official, however, said that the baby boy was alive when his parents took him out of the hospital even as doctors asked them not to do so as the child's condition was serious.

Sunil Dhurve, a resident of Sahajpuri village in Dindori district of the state, said his wife Jamni Bai delivered the baby boy on June 13 in a government hospital and since the child was weak, the case was referred to the Jabalpur-based government medical facility.

"The baby was admitted to the government-run Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose Medical College Hospital in Jabalpur, where he died during treatment on June 15. The hospital, however, did not provide a mortuary vehicle to carry the body to my native place. Due to financial constraints, I had to travel by bus carrying the body in a bag," he said.

Talking to PTI, state Health Department Joint Director Dr Sanjay Mishra said the baby boy was alive he when discharged from the government hospital in Jabalpur The baby was referred to the Jabalpur hospital from a medical facility in Dindori district, he said.

"The newborn baby was admitted and his treatment was started. But his parents made a request to the hospital to discharge their child although the doctors asked them not to do so as the condition of the baby was serious," Mishra said.

On whether any mortuary vehicles were available to carry the deceased persons, he said that no such facility was available at the government hospital.

Dindori is located around 140 km from Jabalpur.

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