A woman in her mid-30s, who had been hired as a caregiver for an elderly woman, has been arrested after she was allegedly spotted hitting the lady and covering her face and nose with a blanket a day before she died in footage captured by a CCTV camera in the bedroom.
Kala Mishra, 72, used to stay alone in an apartment in the Anupama Housing Complex in Baguiati.
Her family members had hired two helps who stayed with her day and night.
Mohammed Sofia, the help who has been arrested, used to stay the nights while the other woman used to be with Mishra from the morning till evening, a senior officer of the Bidhannagar commissionerate said.
According to the officer, the woman had passed away on September 11 and her family had completed the last rites.
However, a few days later the family members who were checking CCTV footage of the flat saw Sofia allegedly slapping Mishra and trying to cover her face and nose with a blanket, the police said.
"The distressed family members immediately rushed to Baguiati police station and lodged a complaint against her. We picked her up within a couple of hours after the complaint was lodged," said Aishwarya Sagar, the deputy commissioner of police, airport zone, Bidhannagar commissionerate.
Another senior officer said that the family members had hired the help through a centre that places caregivers, nurses and maids at home for a fee.
"Soifa was tracked down using her cellphone. During the questioning, she told us that she had slapped the lady as she was making loud noise while sleeping and it disturbed her in the night," the officer said.
According to the officer, anyone hiring such help for the elderly must run proper background checks and submit their identity documents to the local police station so they can be tracked down or contacted easily in case of an emergency.
Trained caregivers for the elderly, whose role is crucial in the recuperation and well-being of a large section of the geriatric population, are hard to find, doctors red-flagged during a conference held in July.
At present, most people hire caregivers from local centres but many of them lack the sensitivity and empathy required for the job.
Over the past few years, dozens of centres that advertise expertise in caregiving have mushroomed across the city and on its outskirts.
But most of the people these centres send to homes lack these qualities, said the doctors.
There are some bigger organisations that provide caregivers with better training but the money they charge is not affordable to a large number of people.