In what appears to be a case of senior citizen abuse, veteran actress Geeta Kapoor, best known for her performance in Pakeezah (1972), was abandoned by her son in SRV hospital in Goregaon, Mumbai on 21 April. Her son, a choreographer called Raja, had reportedly admitted her to the hospital and promised to return with money for the bill. He did not come back.
After a month long stay at the hospital, the hospital bill had grown to over a lakh. Film producers Ramesh Taurani and Ashok Pandit, after reading the media reports, have reportedly settled the bill. They also plan to shift her to an old age home.
Earlier, Geeta was brought to the hospital complaining of low blood pressure and was attended to immediately. Several reports show a crying Geeta, longing to go back home. A DNA report quotes her saying: “He (Raja) used to beat me up as I did not approve of his philandering ways. He would give me food once in four days, and sometimes, even lock me up for several days. I was not ready to go to an old-age home, that’s why, he planned all this. He deliberately kept me hungry and I fell ill. Then, he got me admitted and fled.”
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“So many media people have visited. It has left her a little scared. She starts crying and the ward gets disturbed. She feels that people come to meet her, yet no one is taking her home,” Dr Dipendra Tripathi, intensivist, SRV hospital told PTI.
The hospital staff have been unable to reach her son despite several attempts to trace him. Other family members, too, have not made an attempt to visit her, including her daughter Pooja, who is an air-hostess.
According to a Hindustan Times report, while Geeta admits to being ill treated by her son, she still believes that her son will come back for her.
The Mumbai Police have so far issued a No Objections certificate to the producers to shift Geeta to an old age home.
Thank U @DevenBhartiIPS ji @MumbaiPolice for standing by us and agreeing to give an NOC to shift actress #GeetaKapoor to a old age home.? pic.twitter.com/ajeBazqBJh
— Ashoke Pandit (@ashokepandit) May 30, 2017
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