14 former residents of hospice reunited with kin

As many as 14 former residents of the St. Joseph’s Hospice in Paleswaram, Kancheepuram, have been reunited with their families, after they were shifted to other care homes. Some families reportedly lodged missing complaints in local police stations to trace them.

Sixty-year-old Arumugam, who was moved to a shelter belonging to the Greater Chennai Corporation that is managed by NGO Anbagam at Tondiarpet, was reunited with his son Sampath, 30.

The shelter coordinators reunited two more inmates with their families, out of the 40 who were sent in, in two weeks.

Management flaws

Officials from the Corporation said that the hospice had several flaws in management. “The residents were very weak when they came in, but not all of them are terminally ill. And many were willing to return home and their families too were accepting. The hospice managers did not take any effort to reunite them,” the official said.

Another family traced

“Not all are destitutes either, many have families and are willing go back home. We traced another resident’s family in Hyderabad they are coming to take her home next week,” said Mohammad Rafi, trustee of Anbagam.

While an Advocate Commissioner appointed by the Madras High Court is currently visiting homes where the former residents have been kept, official sources from the Social Welfare Department said that a number of residents had refused to go back to the hospice, citing abuse and neglect. “We have so far visited two homes, each of which have taken in over 20 residents. But only five have returned. In the meantime, many more families are also being traced. It will help in consolidating the final report,” an official said.