Gorai home in trouble for mistreating old woman

The woman, who has been named Anamika by the old-age home, is being kept on the terrace of the home amid filth. Pic/Satej Shinde

This octogenarian was suffering on footpaths before the Radhika old-age home in Gorai brought her in. But it seems her life hasn't improved. Locals staying in adjoining buildings have alleged that since April the home is dragging the woman by her hair to pull her to the terrace, where she is made to sleep in filth. The home, however, claims it is keeping her there because she's mentally unwell.

The locals informed mid-day about the condition the senior - named Anamika by the old age home - was being made to live in since April, through several videos. One of them showed her caretakers from the home making her sleep in the open terrace while it was raining. Another video shows her sleeping on a temporary plastic shed and a metal table, which is supposed be her bed. She is seen shouting in another video when she was getting drenched in a downpour on the terrace.

The senior sleeps under a temporary plastic shed and a metal table, which is supposed to be her bed. Pic/Satej Shinde

Kept amid filth
More videos show a woman caretaker bathing the senior, who is in the nude, at a spot where she can easily be seen by others. Locals have also alleged that the workers of the shelter used to drag her by her hair to the terrace every morning and then lock the door. Lately, the torture has allegedly increased as the woman has been left unattended on the terrace for almost a month. When mid-day visited the spot to verify the videos, we found the woman lying motionless under the plastic shed.

mid-day then approached the Gorai police to explain the senior's condition. Soon after, a team of cops reached the old age home where 30 people - 17 men and 13 women - reside.

Caretakers say
There, two of her caretakers, namely Laxmi Pokharel and Surendra Raibole, told the cops she is mentally unwell and defecates in her pants, because of which others in the home face problems. That is why she is kept in a different place, away from all of them.

Speaking to mid-day Yogesh Thakur, owner of the old age home said, "She has been with us since one and half year. We picked her up from a footpath in Gorai after we got a call from someone about her lying there. I don't have a mother, so I know what it's like to have one. She is mentally unwell and defecates in her pants.

Sometimes, she takes her faeces and applies it on the walls. We're treating her, not torturing her." Ramesh Nagre, senior inspector of Gorai police station told mid-day, "When we visited the old age home, we found that the woman is being kept in a bad and unhygienic condition. During our visit, she was kept in a room on the terrace. We're now going to prepare a report and submit it to the concerned department."

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