Andhra Pradesh: Mother-daughter duo did not leave house since 2020, rescued

When the pandemic began in March 2020, Suri Babu, head of the family working as a vegetable vendor, asked his 46-year-old wife Mani and their 21-year-old daughter Durga Bhavani to wear masks and stay indoors to avoid contracting the infection.

“When the mother-daughter heard about Covid-19 deaths, they locked themselves in their house. Though the pandemic later came under control, the women remained isolated. They also stopped talking to their relatives,” said the district official.

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Mani’s husband had been providing them with food and water, but they were not allowing him into their room for the last week.

Over the last four months, they refused to see Babu and even asked him to move out of the house.

“Suri Babu stayed in another house and kept food at the window daily. When they did not eat that food for weeks, Suri Babu informed the local authorities, who broke into the house and saw them in the corner of a room,” said the district official.

Healthcare workers faced resistance as the women refused to open the door of their room. The women healthcare workers finally persuaded them to open the door and forcibly shifted them to the hospital.

“It’s a case of anxiety disorder where both mother and daughter panicked due to the Covid-19 situation. This is not a case of OCD [obsessive compulsive disorder] but a disorder where a person feels unsafe and tries to remain confined. At this moment, they are getting treatment with the help of psychiatry,” a District Medical Health official to South First.

This is the second such incident to come to light in the state. In July last year, a similar incident was reported in the East Godavari district.

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