Navi Mumbai techie locks himself up for three years, flat found littered with human waste

A 55-year-old man from Juinagar in Navi Mumbai, identified as Anoop Kumar Nair, locked himself up in a flat for over three years, communicating with the outside world by only ordering food online, TOI reported.

Social workers from Social and Evangelical Association for Love (SEAL) received a distress call after which they rushed to the flat at Gharkool CHS, Sector 24, and managed to barge inside his "messy" apartment.

Nair worked as a computer programmer earlier and lived alone in the flat which was littered with human waste.

His mother, Poonamma Nair, worked in the Indian Air Force (telecommunications branch), while his father, V P Kutty Krishnan Nair, was employed at Tata Hospital, Mumbai. However, both of them passed away around six years ago. His older brother committed suicide 20 years ago.

Anup slipped into depression and refused to venture outside his flat, Pastor K M Philip of SEAL told TOI.

Philip added, "We were shocked to see that Nair would only sleep on a chair kept in the living room because most of his furniture seems to have been taken away by someone. He also had a leg infection which requires urgent medical treatment. Some of his relatives tried to contact him following the death of his parents, but Nair does not seem to trust anyone. He is currently kept at our SEAL Ashram in Panvel."

Nair's next-door neighbour, Vijay Shibe, who is also the chairperson of Gharkool CHS, said, "He [Nair] would rarely open his flat door... He would not even take out his garbage, so we society members had to sometimes persuade him to help us take his trash out. We also helped him to transfer the fixed deposit of his parents to his account."

Nair, who is currently in a hospital in Panvel, told TOI, "I don't have any friends at present, and my parents and brother already died. Due to my poor health, I cannot find any new job."

Consultant psychiatrist at Masina Hospital, Dr Priyanka Mahajan, commented, "Whenever a person loses someone close to them, it is natural to experience loneliness and a period of emotional distress. For some, this grief may evolve into a depressive phase marked by intense feelings of helplessness, hopelessness, and worthlessness. As depression deepens, individuals may begin to withdraw socially..."

Founder of Harmony Foundation and chief patron of SEAL, Abraham Mathai, said, "It is ironic how some citizens become extremely lonely and depressed in this crowded city as they are unable to reach out for help. Fortunately for Nair, he was rescued; but there are countless others who simply perish inside their own locked flats, their bodies found days later."