On 2nd November, a video of a tribal woman from Dindori, Madhya Pradesh went viral over social media platforms in which she could be seen wiping the blood of her husband after his death at a government hospital. The video garnered the attention of the activists who used it to stoke further divisions in society. They claimed that the woman, who was 5 months pregnant was made to clean the blood by the hospital staff as she belonged to the tribal community.
The incident happened in the Gadasarai Health Centre in Lalpur village in the tribal-dominated Dindori district. As per the reports, the husband of the woman identified as Shivraj had died after being shot over a land dispute. Four men, a father, and his three kids were shot in Lalpur village due to a long-standing land dispute. While the father and one of the sons died on the spot, two others, Shivraj and Ramraj, were taken to the Gadasarai Health Centre for treatment.
The video of the woman went viral over social media claiming that she was asked to clean the blood of her husband from the hospital bed after his death. The woman in the video could be seen wiping the blood with tissue while holding a blood-soaked cloth in another hand. She also could be seen crying in pain over her husband’s death.
The husband of a 5-month pregnant woman had died some time ago. After her husband's death, the government hospital administration forced her to clean the bed. The incident took place in Dindori, Madhya Pradesh. pic.twitter.com/WtASJ8JpV8
— The Dalit Voice (@ambedkariteIND) November 1, 2024
Notably, the hospital staff stated that the woman was never asked to clean the blood but she herself did saying that she wanted the soaked blood cloth for evidence. Dr Chandrashekhar Tekam, a doctor at the Gadasarai Health Centre clarified while talking to the media saying that staff was present at the hospital when the woman was cleaning the blood.
“The men were shot at during a land dispute on Thursday and two of them were brought to our facility. The wife of the man who died asked us to let her wipe the blood from the bed with a cloth so she could use it as evidence of the extent of the bleeding. She was not asked to clean the bed. I have not received any complaint from the woman or her family,” he said. However, action by the state was taken against the doctor and the nurses seen in the video.
Meanwhile, on social media, people shared the video to claim that the woman was made to clean the hospital bed just because she belonged to the backward community. “It’s all part of a larger sinister plan of abusing the marginalized and voiceless communities. It’s nothing short of Salvery and bonded labour. Medieval era rules MP,” said one of the users while the other one said that caste discrimination was on the rise in Madhya Pradesh.
Another user further specifically added that people were just extending sympathy because the woman in the video was in grief or was pregnant, but the very primary reason why the hospital staff probably asked the woman to clean the blood was because of her lower caste.
One of the users meanwhile called for genocide against the upper caste people saying that if this continues, every Dalit would want to have a right to straight away kill at least 100 people belonging to the upper caste.
Another user meanwhile stated that the backward class people not only needed to educate themselves but also increase their physical power to protect themselves from the discrimination allegedly spread by the upper caste. He said that discrimination would continue against children belonging to the tribal and backward community unless they made themselves physically and mentally stronger.
With this, the users of social media seem to be wrongly propagating the video to spread the fake caste narrative that leads to genocidal hatred against general category people, who hardly have anything to do with the incident.
It is crucial to note that several workers at the hospital where the woman was seen cleaning the blood of her husband also belong to the tribal community. Not only that, but the doctor at the hospital, Dr Chandrashekhar Tekam who clarified that the woman was never asked to clean the blood also allegedly belongs to the Gond tribe or Kamar tribe, listed as a Scheduled Tribe. This issue was raised by an activist named Neha Das who raised her voice against fake caste-narrative leading to genocidal hatred against general category people.
“The Doctor on duty was also from the Gond tribe. In the later news reports, he stated that the woman was not asked to clean the but she had asked to collect the blood-soaked clothes as evidence. Now both stakeholders here are tribals–where is the caste angle here?” she questioned.
Note that the Doctor on duty was also from Gond tribe.
— Dr. Neha Das (@neha_laldas) November 5, 2024
In the later news reports, he stated that the woman was not asked to clean the but she herself had asked to collect the blood-soaked clothes as evidence.
Now both stakeholders here are tribals–where is the caste angle here? pic.twitter.com/NHVOzdoqiv
Notably, action has been taken against the attending doctor and two nurses after the video of the woman went viral over the internet. The Chief Medical and Health Officer (Dindori) issued orders to transfer the attending doctor and suspend the two nurses.
“In the viral video on social media dated 31.10.2024, it has been found that the deceased’s wife was made to clean the hospital bed at the Primary Health Center Gadasarai, Community Health Center. Despite arrangements for hospital cleaning being made through outsourcing in this and other health facilities of the district, it is unfortunate that the deceased’s wife was made to clean the hospital bed,” the official letter noted.
Further updates in the case are awaited.
