On Wednesday, Andhra Pradesh police freed a family that had been confined to a tent house in Andhra Pradesh’s Kadali village for over 15 months in fear of contracting COVID-19.
Ruthamma, 50, Kanthamani, 32, and Rani, 30, locked themselves up about 15 months ago, according to Kadali village sarpanch Choppala Gurunath, when one of their neighbors died of COVID-19.
When a community volunteer went to obtain their thumb imprint for a government initiative that would allow them to get a home plot, the situation came to light. The volunteer notified the local sarpanch and others about the situation.
Gurunath said, “The family of Chuttugalla Benny, his wife, and two children, have been residing here. They were afraid of Corona so they locked themselves in the house for almost 15 months. Any volunteer or ASHA worker who went to that house used to return as nobody was responding. Recently some of their relatives informed that three people have locked themselves in that house and their health is in bad condition.”
“Coming to know the matter, we rushed to this place and informed the police. Rajole Sub Inspector Krishnamachari and the team came and rescued them. Their condition was very pathetic when they came out. Their hair was grown without any grooming, they did not bathe for many days. We immediately rushed them to Government Hospital. Now they are undergoing treatment at the hospital,” he added.
According to Sarpanch, the family would have died if they continued in the same way for two or three more days.
“Their matter came to light when our village volunteer went to their house to get their thumb impression as they were allotted a housing site. When he called them, they denied to come out by saying that they would die if they come out. The volunteer had informed us of the matter, and we rushed to this place. The family is staying inside the small tent, they even attended the nature calls within that small tent. We have shifted them to hospitals with the help of villagers and the police. Now they are undergoing medical treatment,” he said.
