A woman who was five months pregnant was allegedly made to clean the blood from the hospital bed on which her husband had died after being shot at in Madhya Pradesh. A video of the man’s wife cleaning the bed has emerged, sparking outrage, but the hospital has claimed she had asked to be allowed to wipe the blood with a cloth to collect evidence.

Four men – a father and his three sons – were shot at in Lalpur village in the tribal-dominated Dindori district on Thursday over a long-standing land dispute. While the father and one of the sons died on the spot, two others, Shivraj and Ramraj, were rushed to the Gadasarai Health Centre for treatment.

Shivraj died of his injuries and his five-month-pregnant wife, Roshni, was allegedly made to clean his hospital bed. The video shows Roshni holding a blood-stained cloth in one hand and cleaning the bed using tissues with the other.

Dr Chandrashekhar Tekam, a doctor at the Gadasarai Health Centre, said staff was present at the facility and the woman had not been asked to clean the bed.

“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.

The Gadasarai police have registered a case against seven people under various charges, including murder, for shooting at the four men. Some suspects have been taken into custody.