Residents of Noida ‘old-age home’ locked, unclothed in basement rooms; 42 rescued

Forty-two elderly people were rescued from an 'illegal old-age home' after a police raid found some women tied up, many residents without clothes and others in "basement-like" rooms, officials said.

During a raid conducted on Thursday, 26 June, in the presence of members from the Uttar Pradesh State Women Commission and the state welfare department, the old-age home was found in a deplorable condition, they said.

Meenakshi Bharala, a women's commission member, said the Anand Niketan Vridha Seva Ashram at C-5, Sector 55, Noida was an illegal old-age home.

"During the raid, an elderly woman was found tied up, while other elderly people were locked in basement-like rooms," she said.

Some men did not even have clothes, while many elderly women were found in a half-clad condition, Bharala said.

"This old age home is completely illegal. There were 42 elderly people living in the ashram, out of which three elderly people will be shifted to an old-age home run by the social welfare department on Friday [27 June] and the rest will be shifted to other government-approved old-age homes in the next five days," she added.

Bharala said this particular 'old-age home' will now be sealed by the administration.