Chennai: Kancheepuram district administration officials on Monday started shifting elderly destitute inmates from the St Joseph’s hospice in Paaleswaram village near Uthiramerur, almost a week after the hospice came under attack over the multi-tier vault used for storing corpses of destitute elders. The hospice which takes care of destitute elders from across the state came under attack first on February 20 after its van was found ferrying the dead body of an elderly man along with groceries and two other elderly persons. After public complaint and protests, a team headed by Revenue Divisional Officer (RDO), G. Rajiv began enquiries at the premises since February 21.
On Monday, almost a week of investigations later, the district administration decided to shift the destitute elders to other homes until the investigation over the allegations are completed. Kancheepuram district administration officials said that 86 persons were shifted from the hospice on Monday, of which 63 were male and 23 of them female. “Seventeen elderly persons were shifted to a home in Maduranthagam while 20 of them were moved to a home in Sunambedu. Others were put in different homes scattered across the district,” an official said.
District revenue officer Noor Mohammed said that the hospice houses about 285 elderly destitute. “Efforts are underway to complete shifting of rest of the inmates to other homes in the district. We expect it to complete it in a week,” the DRO said. Revenue officials said that some of the inmates were mentally challenged and were not aware of where or why they are. While it was already found that the hospice is yet to renew its license, an inspection by the health department revealed that it was not equipped with proper sanitation facilities.
In the seven years that the hospice has been functioning, they have buried more than 1,600 destitute bodies, but due procedures were not followed in burying many of them as the names and other details were not registered with the local revenue officials as required. The hospice authorities told revenue officials that most of them were orphans and their names were unknown while other bodies were of those patients who were sick and undergoing treatment for a long time at government hospitals. Meanwhile, public too panicked and gathered outside the hospice demanding action against the management. Police had to pacify the agitators to disperse. Further investigations are on.
