The Kerala Police on Tuesday arrested an ambulance driver for allegedly leaving a dying patient in an inverted position at a Government Medical College in Thrissur, ANI reported. The driver has been identified as 38-year-old MV Shareef. He was released on bail from the police station, The Indian Express reported.
Television footage showed the patient on an inclined stretcher with its one end resting inside the ambulance and the other end, with his head, on the ground. After he stayed in this position for some time, two men were seen lifting him and placing him in a wheelchair.
The hospital claimed a road accident, not the driver’s act, was the reason for his death, Mathrumbhumi reported. The man had an accident in Palakkad on March 20 after which he was taken to the town’s district hospital. He was brought to Thrissur’s government medical college in the ambulance on March 23.
The driver reportedly left the patient in that position after he had urinated and defecated in the vehicle. Police, however, did not confirm or deny this. No one was accompanying the man.
The health department has ordered an investigation into the case, the newspaper reported.
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