New Delhi: Behind the bustling facade of south Delhi, the lanes of Kalkaji recently became the quiet setting for two shattering tragedies. Within days of each other, two elderly men living alone passed away in absolute isolation. Their final hours were marked by stark solitude, and in one of the cases, the death went unnoticed for nearly five days.In Govindpuri Extension, 75-year-old musician Rabi Dey was a warm, familiar presence. He taught classical music in nearby Chittaranjan Park. Locals fondly remembered him as someone who loved exchanging jokes while sitting near the entrance.Dey was found dead inside his house early on Aug 15, his body already partially decomposed. It was not a missed phone call but an unbearable stench that prompted neighbours to raise an alarm and alert police.Manisha Batra, 35, lives in the same four-storey building. She recalled that it was her eight-year-old daughter’s distress that first signalled something was wrong. The child had been avoiding using the bathroom and insisting on wearing a face mask because of the overwhelming stench.“When we first noticed Dey missing from his usual spot near the entrance of the building, we thought he was visiting his sons,” Batra said, adding the elderly man offered to teach her daughter music for free.“He was guarded about his personal life,” another local said. “He usually ate once a day at a restaurant in CR Park. When asked about his family, he would simply say his wife lived elsewhere.”While Batra noted that Dey generally appeared healthy, a local press wallah recalled his health seemed to be in decline just days before his passing. When police later retrieved and charged Dey’s phone, they discovered multiple unanswered calls from his son, dialled during the five days he lay dead.Just metres away, in Kalkaji, another tragedy played out as 70-year-old Arvind Nath Pathak met a similarly lonely end. Pathak, whose children live in US, suffered a fatal heart attack. His family had employed caretakers, and his relatives raised the alarm when he was untraceable. On Aug 13, his body was found near a local garbage heap.These twin deaths have left an enduring sense of unease in the neighbourhood, serving as a grim reminder that for the elderly living alone in the city, an alert community is often their only true safety net.
