Normally when a person grows old, the only desire would be to age with dignity and grace. But for a 76-year-old man in Gelephu that has not been the case. For the last two years he has been put-up in a temporary shed made of CGI sheets by his daughter and son in law. Hailing from Punakha, he nad come to Gelephu to live with his daughter about four years back.
His son-in-law said they had to cage him because he used to stray away the moment he is free. “We had to do this because we did not have any choice. When I am at home I change his clothes and bathe him,” said Tshering Dhendup.
The daughter and her family live in a one-storey concrete house close by. BBS tried to interview him but his speech was hardly understandable. His daughter said he was once taken to the hospital, while they were in Punakha. Since the doctor said he did not suffer from any disease they did not take him to the hospital after reaching Gelephu. However, they suspect he is suffering from some sort of mental illness.
She said she has three brothers, but none of them would come to meet or enquire about him.