Mumtaz Alam, IndiaTomorrow.net,
It was death of an ordinary tribal woman. But it ended up as the death of humanity. It was the body of humanity, not his 42-year-old wife Amang Dei, that Dana Manjhi carried on his shoulder for full 10 kilometres in Kalahandi district of Odisha. He was allegedly denied vehicle from the hospital where the woman died of tuberculosis past midnight on Tuesday.
The video of Manjhi carrying the body, wrapped in old bedsheets, on his shoulder with weeping 12-year-old daughter walking by his side is painful.
After he walked 10 kms on foot, he was interrupted by locals. Some mediapersons reached the spot and they alerted the district administration. Only then, an ambulance was arranged for the family.
The heart-breaking scene has hit national headlines online on Thursday with stories being carried by all national dailies and TV channels. The video was going viral on social media also.
Taking note of the media outrage, the state government of Naveen Patnaik has ordered a magisterial probe into the incident. However, there has been silence over the incident (till 8 PM on Thursday) at least on the social media platforms of the chief minister. The last posting on his Twitter handle was about the investment summit that the state government is holding in Bangalore on Friday. And the last Facebook post was about Odisha Civil Services Examination.
Maybe, the incident is too small to get space there.
