Two of Hiranprabha’s sons live in this apartment in Jalpaiguri. (Biplab Basak)

Siliguri, May 28: An 88-year-old, who till last night was homeless, went back to Jalpaiguri with three of her sons today.

This morning, Jalpaiguri District Hospital referred Hiranprabha Bhowmik to North Bengal Medical College and Hospital (NBMCH). But Hiranprabha’s sons, Ajit, Arun and Govinda, took her to a private nursing home in Siliguri, instead of the government hospital.

After a check-up there, they took her to Arun’s house in Jalpaiguri’s Racecoursepara. “She was brought in the evening and the brothers claimed she is fit,” one of the neighbours said.

Hiranprabha had roamed the streets of Jalpaiguri for more than an hour yesterday after four of her six sons turned her away, refusing to have anything to do with her. The other two sons live in Calcutta and Birpara. The octogenarian had collapsed from exhaustion after she went begging for shelter at each of the four houses. She was taken to the district hospital by an NGO.

Hiranprabha later filed an application with the District Legal Services Authority (DLSA) for help. The DLSA today served notices to all six sons asking them to respond to the charges by June 6. Yesterday, the sons had allegedly pleaded with Hiranprabha at the hospital to withdraw the application.

“She had specifically mentioned that she does not have any savings and is totally dependent on her sons, who neglected her,” said Swarup Mondal, a lawyer of Jalpaiguri district court who had filed the complaint on Hiranprabha’s behalf.

Mondal said A.K. Das, the civil judge (senior division) of the district court and secretary of the DLSA, has observed that Petition 74, filed by Hiranprabha, “has been considered, perused and the prayer is allowed”.

If the matter is not amicably settled, then Hiranprabha could file a case under Section 125 of the CrPC, demanding maintenance allowance from her sons. Section 125 entitles a divorced wife, minors and old parents to claim maintenance from a husband, father or earning son, respectively.

“She had heart problems and was suffering from malnutrition. We referred her to NBMCH,” said S.C. Bhowmik, the superintendent of Jalpaiguri District Hospital.