A beggar from Telangana claims he was forced to use a pushcart to carry his wife's body for more than 60 km in the state's Medak district as he could not afford to hire an ambulance, PTI reported on Monday. Police and locals later raised enough money for an ambulance to help Gunna Ramulu transport his wife's body to his native village in Sangareddy, 65 km from Hyderabad, The Indian Express reported. Ramulu and his wife Kavitha had earlier been diagnosed with leprosy.

Ramulu told police officials that his wife had died on Friday in Langar Houz. He said he had to use a pushcart as he could not afford to pay for the ambulance services. He told the police that he got lost and reached a village 85 km away from his destination. However, Vikarabad Circle Inspector L Ravi Kumar, who chipped in for the ambulance, raised doubts about Ramulu's account.

The incident follows a spate of reports of a similar nature that have surfaced this year. In September, a man had to carry his ailing son on his shoulders from one department to another at a hospital in Kanpur after he was denied a stretcher. The child eventually died. In another incident, a man was forced to carry his wife's body after he was denied a hearse van in Odisha, while another had to carry his seven-year-old's body as the ambulance reportedly left them halfway into the journey home.