Miss Alone
Prime VIP
“I stopped stepping out of my house because I did not trust the world outside,” 90-year-old Govind Ram Jethani told HT from a hospital bed in south Delhi on Wednesday.
Jethani was taken to the hospital on Monday evening, after he spent around four days with his dead wife Gopi’s body at their one-room house in south-east Delhi’s Kalkaji.
On Wednesday, Jethani seemed not to recall anything from the past week. When HT asked him about his wife, the frail-looking man questioned his nephew about Gopi.
“I am old and avoid stepping out even to the verandah. If my bones break at this age, it will take a really long time to heal. My neighbours and relatives will harm me if they see an old couple living without a family.”
Jethani said his only source of income was old-age assistance pension provided by the Delhi government. “We ate only bread and milk. I have my own house and I will not sell it to anyone,” he said.
Police suspect Gopi may have died of old age and malnourishment.
On Monday evening, hours after the woman’s body was found, police traced Jethani’s nephew, Narinder.
Jethani was then admitted to the Sukhmani hospital in Safdarjung Enclave.
FAMILY WANTS NGO TO TAKE CARE OF HIM
Widowed at 90, Jethani is now under the care of relatives, with whom he had severed ties long ago. His nephew Narinder said they want an NGO to come forward and help Jethani financially. “He has high fever. He keeps forgetting things. Though I am taking care of him, in the long run it will be difficult for me. I want an NGO to offer help. I am also ageing and have a family,” Narinder said
He said Jethani, who once lived in a joint family, has many relatives but no one has come forward to help him. “I used to visit him sometimes but he chose not to meet anyone. I helped him with money. I tried to persuade him to get a maid, but he always refused.”
JETHANI’S STORY – HE WAS ONCE WELL-TO-DO
Till the 1970s, Jethani, the eldest among three siblings was rich and owned a shop and a house at the Sarojini Nagar market. He also ran a parking contract outside the Ajmer railway station.
His younger brother, Roopchand,75, said that Jethani had helped his siblings settle in Delhi. The three brothers lived together, but then there was a property dispute in the early 1970s. One of the brothers allegedly usurped the house and shop from Jethani and Roopchand.
“He was left with only Rs 10,000 then with which he bought a house and kept some money aside for old age. We lost touch over the years. He did not have any children. I think, one of the main reasons why he severed ties with everyone was because he had stopped trusting anyone after the property dispute,” said Roopchand.
