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The | Agartala |
Updated: May 11, 2020 3:38:55 pm
Debnath tested negative for coronavirus.
Gobinda Debnath spent Rs 30,000 out of pocket to rent a car and two days on the way to reach his residence in Agartla de Tripura. However, to the dismay of the 37-year-old daily gamble, his family did not allow him to enter even after he tested negative for Covid-19 and spent a day in a quarantine facility.
“My wife, my son tell me to go. What can I say? Gobinda said dejectedly to journalists outside the house.
He lives with his wife Mampi Debnath, their young daughter and in-laws in a small apartment assigned to their mother-in-law Bhanu Das under a government housing scheme for the poor.
In March, shortly before the national closure was announced, Gobinda went to visit her brother-in-law in Silapathar in Assam. His father-in-law also joined him, but did not make the return trip.
Tired of waiting for the bullring to be lifted, he decided to rent a vehicle to get to Tripura. Under standard operating procedure, he was tested for coronavirus and sent to a quarantine center near Churaibari, the first checkpoint on the Tripura-Assam interstate boundary.
After testing negative, the police escorted him to his residential complex in Joynagar, where he received a cold welcome. Debnath feels that his wife may have been pressured by other residents.
“They could have bothered her in some way. Obviously she wouldn’t want me to leave. I feel like my wife was scared, our son was crying. I don’t know what to say, “he said.
The residents of the housing complex gathered in large numbers in violation of social distancing rules.
However, his wife dismissed it saying that he wants to protect his sick mother and little daughter.
“My husband went to Assam. I asked him not to come back now, but he came anyway. I stay in my mother’s apartment in this complex. How can I allow him to stay here? I have a young daughter and my mother is sick. She underwent an operation some time ago. I cannot stay at home for 14 days. I have to do housework. Please take him to a quarantine center. After staying there for 14 days and receiving the necessary treatment, he can return, ”he said.
Some of the neighbors, who had already gathered on a small grassy path in the complex, tried to defend her.
“He went to Assam. We don’t know where it stayed there. We hear that he came in a vehicle hired with Rs. 30 thousand We do not know that nobody has traveled with him. The police have come to escort him back home. Even if your result was negative, what if it somehow shows signs of the disease in the next 14 days? We want him to stay in a quarantine center for 2 weeks and come back, ”said Dulali Saha, one of the residents of the complex.
Debnath’s case sheds light on the growing insensitivity and stigmatization associated with the coronavirus in Tripura. Faced with similar cases of prejudice and social boycott, the state administration has been struggling to sensitize people.
Dr. Sangeeta Chakraborty, West Tripura District Sanitary Surveillance Officer, said many of those who live in the complex did not maintain social distancing by meeting in large numbers to prevent Debnath from entering her apartment.
“They themselves are violating social distancing regulations. The police have been trying to convince them, but they are stubborn. We have no choice but to temporarily move him (Gobinda) to a quarantine facility here, ”he said.
He also said that some of them were drunk and misbehaved with the health care staff who came to help him.
Stranded in front of his own home, Debnath was eventually transferred to a small quarantine center established in the State Institute for Public Administration and Rural Development complex near Agartala late at night.
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