The room where the woman lived. Amit Mehra The room where the woman lived. Amit Mehra Two slices of bread with butter, eggs and a glass of milk — the 52-year-old woman’s breakfast on Wednesday was a hearty meal compared to the two slices of bread and a cup of coffee she was fed every four days while she was allegedly locked inside a room on the terrace of her elder brothers’ house in Rohini for over five years. The woman, severely malnourished and covered in her own faeces, was rescued by the Delhi Commission for Women volunteers along with 14 policemen from Rohini (north) police station on Tuesday. She was sent to IHBAS, and later referred to Ambedkar hospital. According to police, one of her brothers (55), Naresh, called the DCW helpline number on Wednesday, following which the brother who kept her on the terrace, Sunil, and his wife were arrested and let out on bail later. As per police, Sunil and his wife claimed the woman was “mentally unstable” and preferred to live on the terrace, saying their only mistake was “not getting the woman admitted to a psychiatric facility”. Both brothers live on separate floors of the two-storey house, and as per police, have been embroiled in a property dispute. Police said Naresh claimed he was “not allowed to go to the terrace because of the dispute”. Residents of the block where the accused lived told The Indian Express that the woman would throw disposable cups at them, weep during the night and starve for days, adding that they did not approach police as they “were waiting for her family to do that”. “Who interferes in family problems? I asked people to call up police, but nobody wanted to,” said Usha, a neighbour. Sunil claimed their mother, who is now dead, would “feed and wash the woman, but nobody could force her to bathe”. After their mother died, the neglect escalated. Police said they discovered a rusted water cooler and a bathroom with no water connection on the terrace. “I tried to make her live with us, but she wanted to live on the terrace… she would fight with us when we tried to take away her dirty clothes,” claimed Sunil’s wife. For all the latest Delhi News, download Indian Express App

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