Father Drives 85 km With Daughter's Corpse Tied To Car Seat After Not Affording Ambulance Ride

A helpless Indian father reportedly drove 85 kilometers with his daughter’s corpse tied to a car seat after not being able to shoulder the exorbitant cost of an ambulance ride home.

Seema, the deceased daughter, was admitted to a new hospital in Kota, Rajasthan on April 24 due to COVID-19 complications. After battling the deadly virus for over a month, she reportedly succumbed to her condition on Sunday, May 23.

Seema was a resident of Jhalawar, which is around 85 kilometers away from Kota, reported The Free Press Journal.

A photograph showing Seema's father riding home on a red WagonR with his daughter’s remains tied down using a belt to the seat next to him has gone viral on social media.

The photo was allegedly taken in Kota City, Rajasthan on Monday, May 24. The matter is being invested for reckless imprudence on the part of the health facility where Seema died.

According to bystander accounts, the father had approached ambulance drivers to arrange the transport of his daughter's body to their hometown. The inconsiderate drivers, however, reportedly asked for an outrageous 16,000-35 000 rupees ($220 to $490) in payment for the 85-kilometers trip to Rajasthan.

Since the father had no financial capacity to shoulder the amount after his daughter's month-long stay at the hospital, he decided to tie her remains with a seat belt onto the front seat of his car and take the body home on his own to Jhalawar.

Ujjawal Rathod, the District Collector of the Kota, has responded to media inquiries saying they are currently investigating the matter. Rathod also asked the father to provide the details of the ambulance drivers who charged the exorbitant amount for the ride.

A second wave of COVID-19 has turned disastrous in India with more than 140,000 deaths happening in the last seven weeks alone. Amid the crisis, crematoriums have run out of space, and families have been forced to cremate their loved ones in public spaces.

In a similar but unrelated incident, the video of a man carrying the body of his 11-year-old "coronavirus positive" daughter on his shoulders has gone viral. The man was found walking along a road in Jalandhar's Ram Nagar carrying the heavy load. The district administration later revealed that the girl did not die due to COVID-19.

In another incident, a man from Andhra Pradesh, India carried his mother's body, after she succumbed to complications brought about by COVID-19, on a two-wheeler for 18 kilometers, heading to cremation grounds after being unable to find an ambulance.