Noida sisters case: In death, themes of alienation and loneliness

Noida:  Less than 24 hours after she was rescued from the house that she had not left for six months, 43-year-old Anuradha Bahl died in a Noida hospital.

Her sister, Sonali, younger by five years, has not been told about Anuradha's death. Given her own fragile mental and physical condition, doctors want to protect Sonali from any news that could add to her stress. "She is under acute depression. We are treating her and hopefully all will be well. If any psychiatric help needed, it will be provided," said doctors attending to Sonali at Kailash Hospital.

Both sisters were forcibly moved out of their apartment in Noida's Sector 29 yesterday for the first time in six months. They were rescued by the police and social activists after neighbours complained about a stench from the Bahls' flat.

Usha Thakur, a social activist who accompanied the police when the sisters were rescued, said, "There was a very bad odour coming from the sisters' bodies. While the older one was half nude, the younger sister was wearing woolen clothes in this warm weather."

Both sisters were discovered dehydrated and starving. Anuradha, lying on the couch, was a bundle of bones and was carried out by the police into an ambulance. Doctors say she had not eaten in three months. "Anuradha's mouth was bleeding. She was shifted to the ICU but inspite of all medical efforts, we were not able to resuscitate here. And, she took her last breath around 8 am," said Dr Amit, the Chief Medical Officer at Kailash Hospital.

The apartment that the Bahls inhabited was a gaping hole in an otherwise comfortable neighbourhood in Noida. It had no phone, electricity or water. On the first floor of a two-storey building, Anuradha and Sonali wasted away while the lives around them moved at the dizzying speed of any big city. Neighbours say they tried to inquire after the sisters a couple of times, but when it was clear that their queries were unwelcome, they stopped trying to help.

The sisters lost their father in a car accident in 1992. Their mother died in 1995. Their younger brother, Vipin, who is 10 years younger, became the centre of their universe. In 1997, Anuradha stopped working as a Chartered Accountant. Sonali's job at an export house paid the bills. In 2007, Vipin got married and about six months later moved to Bangalore. And in 2008, when Sonali was laid off, the sisters seem to have withdrawn from any sort of normal life.

Vinod Aggarwal runs a nearby general store that used to deliver food items to the Bahls. "They had to pay me Rs. 2500, so I stopped delivering food to them after February 16."

At the hospital today, Vipin Bahl broke down as he discussed what may have killed his older sister. "I don't know about it... maybe heart failure.  She was alright this morning.  I was here all night; I was sitting outside the Intensive Care Unit."