Kolkata, Sep 4 (IANS): In a case showcasing the apathy of a section of population towards patients suffering from coronavirus and their kin, a man who had self-quarantined after his mother tested positive was locked in his apartment by one of his neighbours in Kestopur.
It took police intervention on Friday to get him out of the locked apartment.
The incident took place at Ghoshpara's Chitrakut Dham Apartment this morning when Sajal Kanti Das, a law clerk by profession, found that the main gate of his flat was locked from outside. He called up the security guard of the complex and office-bearers of the housing complex via Whatsapp. However, no one came to the family's rescue.
"I called up the security guard and also informed managing committee members. But no one came to open the lock. During the lockdown I tried to help out the poor in our neighbourhood by buying food and other essential items for them. But today, such inhumane treatment was meted out to me by my own neighbours. It is unfortunate," Das said breaking down.
Finally, Das called up the area police which went to the spot and examined the CCTV footage. A resident of the apartment complex, Deep Sengupta, was found to have locked the collapsible gate of Das' flat at night.
A police officer from the Baguihati police station made the offender, a software engineer, open the collapsible gate of Das' flat though he was not arrested.
When questioned, Sengupta admitted to his mistake and maintained that he did it to restrict the movements of his neighbour as he is in home isolation.
"The Chief Minister has been repeatedly telling every resident of the state to be humane towards all corona patients and their families. I am feeling deeply ashamed at this wrongful confinement. We don't need social distancing but we need to maintain physical distancing. This incident is simply unimaginable," Indian Medical Association (IMA) President and Trinamool Congress Rajya Sabha member Shantanu Sen said.
According to sources, Sajak Kanti Das' mother had tested coronavirus positive last week and was admitted to a private hospital. She is now under observation in the intensive care unit. After admitting his mother in a hospital, Das went into self-quarantine for 14 days in his Kestopur flat.