With a fractured leg, Manoranjan, a migrant from Kolkata, has been lying on the pavement in Sector 36 opposite the Guru Nanak Public School for a fortnight. Disowned by his family, he is nothing more than a heap of bones living on the leftovers provided by locals.

Manoranjan was hit by an auto on September 16, when he was going on his cycle. He was taken to the Government Hospital Sector 16 by his son-in-law Deepak, who after dropping him at the hospital, went away.

“I was discharged the same evening after medication and plaster. A doctor called an auto and paid him the fare to drop me at my home in Sector 36, where I was living with my wife,” he says. “However, she sent me away saying she cannot support me and my treatment,” he adds.

Manoranjan earlier worked as a rickshaw-puller and later joined a local general store. His wife is a domestic help.

Local residents have been feeding Manoranjan since then. Neena Singh, who runs an NGO and lives in the area, says she took his case with different institutes for such people but to no avail. She also contacted Manoranjan’s wife Kajal but she refused to support her husband. “His wife told me that Manoranjan used to waste money on liquor and now that he has also broken his leg, she is in no position to support him,” Singh says.

Manoranjan accepted that he used to spend money on alcohol but claimed he was not an addict and has been managing without it for long. “I used to spend on liquor but never expected that my family would disown me when I wanted them the most. They respected me till I was earning and now when I am completely dependent, I have none beside me,” he says.

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