Recovered COVID-19 patient alleges harassment at hands of neighbours in MP's Shivpuri, puts house on sale

A youth from Shivpuri, who had contracted coronavirus and was released following treatment and testing negative for the infection, has alleged that his family is being harassed by his neighbours, which has forced him to put his house on sale.

"I have been working outside for the past eight-nine years. Upon learning of the COVID-19 pandemic, I returned to India on March 18, on 19th I went to the hospital and tests were conducted on March 21 which showed that I was borderline positive for COVID-19. The hospital management and administration fully cooperated with me and motivated me. Following the treatment, my results came out negative and I was released from the hospital," Deepak Sharma, the youth, told ANI here.

"On April 4, upon returning to my house I was taunted and jeered at by the neighbours. My parents too had been tested and their reports came out as negative, but still, they were being mistreated by the people in the locality. It got so bad that we had to call the police to settle the matter. But it did not stop, so I had to put up the 'for sale' sign at my house," he said.

Meanwhile, Janki Prasad Sharma, Deepak's father too alleged that they want to sell their house and move to a different locality as they were not being allowed to purchase essential commodities by their neighbours.

"I want to sell my house as the residents of my colony are not letting me get even the essentials such as drinking water and are always shooing off the vegetable vendors," he said.

Superintendent of Police, Shivpuri, Rajesh Singh Chandel, said that an investigation is being conducted to find out the details. He, however, added that the neighbours had entered into an argument with the youth after he was seen roaming outside his house earlier following his return.

"As soon as the people got to know that he had returned from outside and had tested positive they started harassing him. There is no such threat per se to the family, but the administration is taking care of the whole family and they are being provided all essentials as they are in home quarantine. There had been an argument earlier with his neighbours as he was roaming around in the area following his return from outside, but we will see what the matter is currently," Chandel said.

Meanwhile, as many as 604 people have tested positive for coronavirus in entire Madhya Pradesh, with 43 deaths being reported due to the disease according to the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Monday evening.