From hospice to homes, a man searches for his father

Last June, 70-year-old Palani left home to visit his sister in Pallikaranai. He told his son, Saravanan, that he would be back in four days. That was the last time Mr. Saravanan saw his father.

A day later, when he had not heard from his father, Mr. Saravanan called his aunt, who said her brother had not come there.“I went around our area and looked for him but it was in vain,” said Mr. Saravanan, a carpenter, who lives with his family in Velachery.

Mr. Saravanan and his younger brother lodged a man missing complaint with the local police. On inquiry, it was found that his father had met with an accident while he was on his way to a bus stop in Velachery and was admitted to the Government Royapettah Hospital by passers-by. When Mr. Saravanan went to the hospital, he was told that his father had been sent to the St. Joseph’s Hospice in Paleswaram, Kancheepuram, since nobody had come to claim him and he couldn’t recollect his identity.

Not in the log

Mr. Saravanan rushed to the hospice with his brother and a friend but were not allowed in. “We then saw an ambulance arrive, and entered with it. Soon, we were stopped by the caretakers,” he said. However, after they explained their plight, the caretakers took them to the rooms and showed them the residents. His father wasn’t among them.

“We were told that they didn’t have his name or photo in their log,” said Mr. Saravanan, who went back home, dejected.

He had almost given up hope when he saw a video clip on a news channel where a man, who looked exactly like his father, was being carried out of the hospice in a bus while the inhabitants were moved to different homes. The hospice had come under the scanner last month for violations in operations.

“I rushed to the Kancheepuram Collector’s office. They too didn’t have his name on the list. But they gave me a list of 10 homes where residents were sent to. I went to each of them but couldn’t find him,” said Mr. Saravanan.

Collectorate officials said that they did not have names of all the inhabitants of the hospice as many couldn’t recall their identities. “We have taken Mr. Palani’s photograph. We will try to find him,” said a senior official.

“I only pray that wherever he is, he is well. I will continue looking for him,” said Mr. Saravanan.