With lakhs in the bank, old lady starves to near death

With lakhs in the bank, old lady starves to near death

Would you imagine someone having Rs82 lakh in their bank account and expensive jewellery and cash at home beg for a living and struggle for food? But that’s exactly what Goregaon resident Ishwari Jethwani, 73, was doing. A weak Jethwani was found unconscious at her New Piramal society residence, which was covered with filth and reeking, on Thursday. She was found covered with insects, which confused the police as to whether she was alive or dead. She was admitted to Siddharth hospital. “Jethwani retired 13 years ago from the Worli dairy where she worked as a superintendent. She has been living alone after her four siblings passed away. However, she has no dearth of money. We found nine gold bangles and Rs7.2 lakh at her home, not to mention the massive amount in her account. And yet, she begged at temples and gurdwaras,” said Arun Chavan, senior inspector of Goregaon police station. Jethwani apparently didn’t pay her electricity bills either. She only paid the maintenance of her house. According to the police, Jethwani’s loneliness was self-inflicted. Due to her cold attitude, she had no friends in the neighbourhood. The only person allowed in her home was the security guard of the building. He used to visit to bring her vada pav, which was her only meal. “She refused to stay in the hospital, so we had to send her home. We have got her house cleaned and deployed two policewomen at her place. We will talk to her once she is better and decide what needs to be done to ensure her safety,” said Chavan. The police also said that she is of a sound mind. Elderly sent to old age home-updated on 8/9/2012 A day after Goregaon resident Ishwari Jethwani, 73, was found unconscious at her New Piramal Society flat, which was covered with filth, the police took her to Dream Old Age Home in Malwani. “We have moved her into an old age home for now. It is evident that she needs to be nursed 24 hours a day,” said senior inspector Arun Jadhav of the Goregaon police station. The police said her loneliness was self-inflicted. Jethwani, who has been living in the Goregaon flat since 1972, never interacted with her neighbours except during society meetings. The only person allowed in her home was the security guard, who used to get her vada pav, which was her only meal. “We have offered to help her on many occasions, but she would refuse. She would only attend the society meeting to fight for her rights,” said Helen Nemani, another senior citizen and the society’s chairman. Jethwani retired 13 years ago from Worli Dairy where she worked as a superintendent. She has been living alone after her siblings passed away. The police found nine gold bangles and Rs7.2 lakh at her home, besides Rs 82 lakh in her bank account. Yet, she begged at temples and gurdwaras. “After the death of my siblings, I severed ties with my eight aunts. I just want to go where my siblings are. Do not bring me back alive to this house,” said Jethwani. “Please publish my story and tell everyone how a woman accumulated so much wealth only for a wasted life.” The police will decide on what to do with the money found at her home after she gets well. Other news: Cops want to put crorepati in care home MUMBAI: The Goregaon police have been trying to convince septuagenarian Ishwari Jethwani to move to an old age home, after they found her lying unwell in a bed covered with insects in her flat on Thursday. Jethwani has been living alone and hasn't hired any help despite having a bank balance of more than a crore. The police got her treated at the civic-run Siddharth Hospital and also got her flat cleaned. Jethwani, 73, and her family had moved to India from Pakistan after the partition. She used to work as a dairy superintendant at Worli and did not get married. "Three of her siblings used to stay with her and they all took care of each other. But after her siblings' deaths, Jethwani stopped trusting anyone. When we inspected her house at the New Piramal Nagar society, we found Rs 7.2 lakh in cash, Rs 72 lakh in her bank account, nine gold bangles, a gold chain and national savings certificates worth Rs 2.87 lakh. There are several share certificates as well, which we are yet to assess," said Arun Jadhav, senior inspector of Goregaon police station. After being discharged from the Siddharth Hospital on Thursday, the cops escorted Jethwani back to her home. "She hasn't taken a bath in a long time. Her belongings were strewn around and the place was emitting a foul odour, when we examined it on being summoned by neighbours. As her power bill hadn't been paid, the electricity supply had been cut off," an official said. "We told Jethwani that she would be better cared off at the Malwani old age home. We also advised her to deposit all her savings in the bank and access it whenever she needs it." On Friday, the police, who have been keeping an eye on the senior citizen, took her for a medical check up. "I loved my siblings and we were very happy together. None of us got married. I really miss them a lot don't have faith in anyone since their deaths," she said. Her white hair was uncombed and shabby and a cloth bandage covering a wound on her arm. "I don't want to go to any old age home. Till 12 years ago, my relatives used to visit me over the weekend. I haven't spoken to anyone in a really long time so why I talk now? I have no one to call my own and everyone is only behind my money," she cried. Despite her money, Jethwani has been living a secluded living, rarely interacting with her neighbours except for the security guard who brings her vada pav to eat. She also visits a local temple sometimes and asks for meals, police said. Rich, derelict elderly woman rescued from Mumbai flat With shabby, uncombed hair and cloth covering a wound on her hand, Ishwari Jethwani, 73, did not look like someone worth lakhs of rupees, when she was being escorted in a police van to a local hospital for a check-up on Friday afternoon. “My three siblings and I used to love each other a lot. Now they are no more, and I miss them. I cannot trust anyone,” she said. Jethwani has been living alone in her flat in New Piramal Nagar Cooperative Housing Society, Goregaon (west), for more than a decade. On Thursday, after her neighbours complained that a foul smell was emanating from the flat, police rushed there, only to find her lying in bed, with insects crawling over her body. She was taken to the hospital, and discharged in a few hours. “We found Rs. 7.2 lakh in cash, national saving certificates worth Rs. 2.87 lakh, and bank statements showing Rs. 72 lakh in her account and gold jewellery in her house. She also has share certificates worth lakhs of rupees. More money was found on Friday,” said Arun Jadhav, senior inspector, Goregaon police station. However, Jethwani’s lifestyle is a far cry from her financial status. She has been living a secluded life, with minimal interaction with neighbours. Police said she had also been seen begging for food outside a nearby temple. “Her family and she came to from Pakistan after the partition. She had two brothers and a sister. She worked in the Goregaon dairy,” said a constable. The police also found her house in a terrible condition, filthy and barely furnished. They are now trying to convince her to move to a shelter for the aged in Malwani. Jethwani, however, wants her life of seclusion. “I do not want to go to a shelter. I haven’t spoken to anyone in so many years and no one has bothered. Why should I now?” she asked. City Cops break into flat to save 73-year-old, find Rs. 7 lakh in cash Neighbours say the woman was a recluse and lived like a pauper; her bank statements showed savings of Rs 72 lakh Around 4 pm Thursday, Inspector Sunil Kalvutkar and his team from Goregaon (W) Police Station forced their way into flat number 54 at Piramal Nagar, near Goregaon Railway Station. The police team was responding to a call on 100, which said the flat's occupant - a woman in her 70s - hadn't come out for the past three days, and a stench was emanating from the apartment. The officers feared the worst as soon as they saw the woman, who was lying on a broken bed in the hall. Insects were crawling on her body, and the apartment itself was ramshackled and stinking, indicating no-one had entered the flat in years. As the cops lifted the woman off the bed, they realised she was alive, and rushed her to Sujata Hospital in Goregaon. An inspection of her apartment threw in more surprises. The police found Rs 7 lakh in cash, stashed in a bag that was kept under the bed. They also found saving scheme certificates worth Rs 2 lakh, and bank statements that showed Rs 72 lakh in savings. The woman, who is recuperating at Bhagwati Hospital in Borivali, has been identified as Ishwari Jethwani, aged 73. Neighbours said she has been a recluse for the past 14 years, after her retirement from the Worli Dairy. A neighbour said, "The only person she interacted with in the building was the watchman, whom she would ask to get her a vada pav once in a while. She never spoke to any of us, and lived like a pauper. All we know about her is that she is unmarried, and her kin died more than a decade ago." The police said that Jethwani's bank statements suggested she received a monthly pension of around Rs 15,000, but looking at her condition and the flat she lived in, it seemed she never spent money on even the basic items such as soap. A neighbour said, "Her flat would always be stinking, and we tried to speak to her about the problem, but she would rarely open the door." An officer from Goregaon Police Station said, "It's a case of a lonely person, who seems to have lost interest in living. Neighbours told us that they often saw her outside temples, waiting for someone to give her food, though she was not a beggar." Once she is discharged from the hospital, the police will speak to her neighbours to find if anyone would volunteer to take care of her, the officer said. Senior Inspector A A Jadhav said, "We will see how to rehabilitate her once she recovers. It seems she is suffering from malnutrition."