‘My wife is paralysed and lost her speech. Will bring her home only after hospital cures her fully’
Times of India | 10 April 2025
123456 Kolkata: Days after an Amherst Row resident submitted to the Calcutta High Court his financial inability to take his disabled wife back home from a private hospital, TOI visited and spoke to the man sitting in an AC room of his rented accommodation on the ground floor of a three-storeyed old house.
The man, Jai Prakash Gupta (50), alias Lal, who runs an iron scrap shop about 500 meters from his house, stated that it would not be possible for him to appoint a caregiver for his wife, Poonam, as the lower portion of her body has been paralysed and she has lost her speech.
The woman was admitted to the private hospital with a head injury following an accident and was "abandoned" there since then, as Gupta allegedly refused to clear an outstanding hospital bill of Rs 1 crore. With several reminders to Gupta failing to elicit any response, the hospital authorities moved the HC, expressing their inability to take care of the patient any more.
On April 2, the man was produced in court by Amherst Street police station. When Justice Amrita Sinha asked Gupta why he was not taking his wife back home, he cited his poor financial condition.
Asked about his problem in taking care of his ailing wife, Gupta turned off his LCD TV, sent his minor son to another room, and replied: "Who will look after her? I stay here with my minor son and there is no one else. I earn Rs 20,000 from the shop per month and I pay Rs 600 monthly rent. Given this situation, where shall I get money from to pay the hospital bill and have my wife discharged? Even if the bill shoots up to Rs 5 crore, I have nothing to do. I can bring her back only if the hospital cures her completely."
"In 2022, the hospital gave me a bill of Rs 58 lakh. From where shall I get so much money? I have a Rs 6 lakh mediclaim policy and, in addition, I paid Rs 15,000 in cash to the hospital. They did not cooperate and instead, shot up the bills to Rs 1 crore, which I am unable to pay," he said.
Gupta also alleged that his wife's condition worsened after surgery at the hospital. "After multiple procedures done on her at the hospital, she became paralysed and lost her speech. Now it's the responsibility of the hospital to treat her and bring her back to normalcy. I am not a doctor, so I cannot say that she got wrong treatment. When the hospital could not cure her, why should I pay them money?"
According to Gupta, his wife stepped out to go to Madan Mitra Lane for Lakhir Bhandar registration in Sept 2021 when she fell down on the road. "She had a serious head injury due to the fall. I took her to Medical College and Hospital where doctors suggested I take her to Apollo Multispeciality Hospitals. When I realised that I wouldn't be able to meet the expenses of her treatment at the private hospital, I arranged for her admission in the SSKM Hospital through my local sources. State minister Shashi Panja gave me a letter for my wife's admission in the state-run facility. But the private hospital did not discharge her and demanded money," he said.
During the court hearing, the hospital's counsel submitted that Gupta had started "an alternative family". However, Gupta rubbished this and claimed to be living with his son in the rented home.