Mother still in denial: ‘They are fine,will be home soon’

Neighours of the Guptas Sector-8 home claim that the door bell of B 6/226 seldom rang. Its four residents,including the 13-year-old son of Mamta,hardly spoke to anyone.

After sundown,the mother would leave the house,a bag in her hand,her clothes and hair unkempt and head toward the local market — half a kilometre away,said neighbours.

What happened inside the house is a mystery. “The stench was overwhelming. The mesh door was always locked,but the wooden door remained open. We tried talking to them,but they never let us help them,” said a neighbour.

Neighbours claimed it was a chain snatching incident,six years ago,that left the family shaken. But the scars,it seems,ran deeper.

Mamta married a businessman in Shastri Nagar in 1996. The marriage ended three years later.

“He was an alcoholic and would physically abuse her. One day,he left her. She never really got over this,” said Neeraj,Mamta’s cousin who called the CATS ambulance on Saturday,rescuing the sisters from months of starvation.

The two were rushed to Baba Saheb Ambedkar Hospital in a critical state.

A day later,doctors said the sisters were still critical. “Mamta weighs 15 kg while Neerja weighs about 25 kg. Mamta is on a drip and Neerja is on a liquid diet,” said a doctor attending on them.

The closed mesh door of the Guptas’ grey duplex home,offers a peek into the lives of the sisters. Two beds lie on either side of the room,which has a TV set. A steel water filter,a pair of blue-and-white slippers and a semi-rolled-up mattress accessorise the room. Dark stains dotted the walls and the floor. All four residents slept in this room,said neighbours.

Their father,a worker at a plywood shop in Paharganj,died eight years ago. Unable to bear the financial burden,Nirmala Devi pulled Mamta’s son out of school this January,said Neeraj.

The financial help,offered once in a while by relatives,was the family’s only means of sustenance.

“Their diet was frugal and they would buy very few vegetables. Taiji (Nirmala) told us she would try feeding the two,but they hardly ate. She never allowed us to take them to the hospital. When the ambulance arrived yesterday,Neerja asked me why she was being taken as only her legs were bent. She said she was perfectly fine,” said Neeraj.