Elderly Indian couple begs for money to get their son’s body from hospital in viral video

Couple alleges they were asked to pay bribe to receive their son’s mortal remains

Representational image: ((AP Photo Gautam Singh))

An elderly couple from India's northern state of Bihar was allegedly forced to beg for money after a local hospital’s staff asked them for a bribe to hand them their son's body.

A video, now viral on social media, shows the couple going door-to-door in Samastipur to collect Rs 50,000 (£513) after an employee of the Sadar Hospital in the city allegedly demanded money to release the body of their son who had been missing since 25 May, the couple said.

Mahesh Thakur, a daily labourer from Kasbe Aahar village, had gone to the hospital on 6 June after learning that the local police have discovered a body. He said that he wanted to check if it was their 25-year-old, intellectually challenged son.

“It was my son’s body. I had already visited Tajpur police station and they had asked me to approach the hospital. But the post-mortem staff demanded Rs 50,000 to hand over the body,” Mr Thakur was quoted by The Indian Express newspaper as saying.

Mr Thakur then returned to his village and started begging for funds. However, he said he could only collect Rs 2,000 (£20.5). "I went back but the same staff refused to hand over the body saying Rs 2,000 is too little,” he alleged.

After the video, which was shot by locals, went viral on Twitter, authorities intervened and said they would take action. The local police took possession of the body and handed it over to the Thakurs.

The hospital's civil surgeon SK Choudhary said a probe has been ordered into the matter. He said it was unlikely that the staffer would ask for a large sum of money.

“While demanding Rs 50,000 bribe seems unlikely, it is quite possible that a post-mortem room staffer might have asked for some money. There had been similar allegations against a previous staffer. We are probing the matter,” he told the Indian daily.

Vinay Kumar Rai, a senior official, said his "preliminary investigation" revealed that the "couple's allegations were wrong".

“Action will be taken if any employee is found guilty. It could also be a conspiracy to defame the local administration," he said.

State health minister Mangal Pandey told news agency ANI that action "will be taken based on the investigation report”.