Govinda at the Siliguri nursing home on Wednesday, hours before his release. Picture by Kundan Yolmo

Alipurduar/Siliguri, Nov. 18: A day labourer was today discharged from a Siliguri nursing home which had refused to release him till he cleared his medical bills of Rs 1.2 lakh while his wife was spotted selling their three-month-old son to raise money to clear the dues.

Govinda Roy, a construction worker, had broken his left knee while working at a site in Samdrupdzonkha in Bhutan on August 7. “The contractor I was working under, took me to a local hospital for first aid. The next day, I was brought to Siliguri and admitted to the nursing home at Khalpara,” said the 30-year-old resident of South Khairbari in Madarihat.

On August 8 itself, Anima, Govinda’s wife, gave birth to her second son at a South Khairbari primary health centre.

“Initially, the nursing home had told us that the expenses would be around Rs 30,000. The contractor had paid Rs 25,000 at the time of admission and left. He had never returned since then,” Anima said.

Govinda’s relatives and friends managed to collect another Rs 5,000. “I had also got Rs 10,000 by mortgaging our house. Eighteen days later, our neighbours went to Siliguri to pay the dues and bring him back,” Anima said. “The nursing home authorities then said the bill had shot up to Rs 1.20 lakh and refused to discharge him unless the dues were cleared.”

Govinda’s friends then deposited Rs 5,000 with the nursing home and returned home with Rs 10,000, Anima said.

With the passage of time, Govinda recuperated. Anima continued her efforts to raise money for her husband’s release.

“I have been staying at the nursing home for the past three months and nine days. Gradually, I could start walking. But since none of my family members were visiting me, it became clear to me that they could not collect the money. I asked the nursing home owner to give me a job so that I could clear the dues from my salary. He, however, refused and told me that I could go home but have to clear my dues first,” Govinda said.

Anima ran from pillar to post for money but only to be frustrated. “Finding no other alternative, I thought of selling my second child and priced him Rs 80,000. I had come to know that more than Rs 60,000 is still due in the nursing home and so thought of bringing my husband back home with the sale proceeds,” the 28-year-old woman said.

This morning, Anima went to the South Khairbai market and reportedly got some buyers for her son. She was, however, prevented by journalists in Madarihat and some of her neighbours from selling the child.

“We do not blame her for her attempt to sell her child. There was hardly any other option left for the woman to bring back her husband,” said Nazma Begum, a member of South Khairbari gram panchayat.

As the news spread in Siliguri, journalists reached the nursing home to crosscheck the wife’s claim.

“I was not kept under confinement at the nursing home and provided with food, bed and other amenities. But it was plain that unless I cleared the dues, they would not allow me to leave. My movement was constantly monitored by the employees,” Govinda said.

The nursing home authorities told journalists that nobody from Govinda’s family had visited or asked for his release till date.

“None of his family members turned up and so far our information goes only Rs 25,000 of the total bill of Rs 1.2 lakh was deposited with us,” said A.K. Khandelwal, the medical superintendent of the nursing home.

“Govinda was staying in a bed, having food and a good time. When we came to know of his wife and his financial condition from the mediapersons, we discharged him,” he added.

After his release from the nursing home, Govinda, who has not seen his second son so far, was sent home in an ambulance around 6.15 in the evening.

The reunion with his family took place three-and-a-half-hours later at Rangalibajna near Birapara. Anima and their two sons were waiting there, braving the November chill.