Daijiworld Media Network - Udupi (SP)
Udupi, Jan 28: It is gathered that a couple hailing from Brahmavar in the taluk, currently living at Bronx, New York city, has been arrested by the police on charges of endangering their five-year-old child, who was found to have been left alone at their apartment at Bronx.
A report in New York Post stated that a deliveryman representing FedEx found the young boy alone surrounded by rats, pests and dirt. The five-year-old was identified as the son of Wilfred Lewis (59) and Charlotte Lewis (48) from Brahmavar. The couple face charges of endangering the welfare of the child. After the FedEx deliveryman alerted the police, police constables who went to the apartment found that the kid was alone in an apartment that had garbage, rats, bedbugs, and other pests in abundance along with faeces, the report said.
The FedEx man had knocked at the door of the said apartment as he needed to obtain signature of a family member to deliver a package. The boy opened the door and told the deliveryman that his parents were not at home. Thereafter the FedEx employee, who noticed the environment inside through the small opening, alerted police officials nearby to help the boy.
It is gathered that the mother of the boy is employed at a medical centre as nurse. She was taken into custody from her workplace. The father surrendered later at the 50th Precinct station. Sources told the New York Post that Wilfred in his statement to the police said that his son was able to take care of himself and was 'self-sufficient'. They were later granted bail for $15,000 and told to appear in court again in February.
The other children of the couple, a 15-year-old boy with impaired hearing, and two girls aged 12 and 13, were at school at the time the boy was noticed by the FedEx employee, it is learnt. The children were taken away by volunteers of city child welfare for counselling.
It is said that the entire apartment belonging to the family was filthy with uncleaned floor full of garbage and smell of faeces permeating the entire house.
Wilfred and Charlotte are natives of Matpady in Brahmavar, Udupi, and have been living in the US for many years as green card holders. Wilfred reportedly is a professor.
Shocked by the news, many netizens, mostly Americans, posted angry and even abusive comments on Wilfred's Facebook page.