Unable to repay a loan of Rs 2 lakh, a farmer from Karnataka's Belgaum district consumed poison, but he had to sleep on a bench outside a government hospital in Chikodi as it was giving priority to COVID-19 patients, district health officials said on Sunday.

Officials said, "An inquiry will be done and action will be initiated."

"The man, Duradundi, told his wife to hold a saline bottle and stand outside the hospital. Doctors in the hospital told her that they could not admit him as the hospital was giving priority to COVID-19 patients. Later, with the help of some people, the wife took her husband to a private hospital in Sankeshwar for treatment," officials said.

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