The family of an 83-year-old man being treated at a nursing home in the Deshapriya Park area has alleged that a nurse slapped him on Saturday night after he had become restless because of physical distress.

Sanjoy Roy, a resident of Mukherjee Para Lane in Kalighat and patient of chronic respiratory problems, was admitted to Dr BN Basu Memorial Clinic Apollo Nursing Home on Jatin Das Road on Diwali night.

Family members said Roy’s breathing had become laboured that night, following which doctors advised hospitalisation.

“I went to meet my father today morning. He broke down on seeing me and narrated last night’s ordeal. He said he had become restless at night and tried to remove the intravenous channel in his arm. That’s when the nurse asked him aloud who would pay for the apparatus at his bedside if they fell and broke before slapping him across the face,” said the patient’s son Biswajit, who works at a school.

Biswajit lodged a complaint with the general manager of the nursing home, who apparently said that it was impossible that a nurse had done such a thing.

He later said an inquiry would be ordered.

The son also lodged a complaint with Rabindra Sarobar police station.

“This incident is condemnable. I want to appeal to the police to take appropriate steps in this matter,” the complaint reads.

A senior officer of the police station said an investigation had been started and officers had spoken to Sanjoy Roy and other patients in adjacent beds. “We will speak to some more people,” the officer said.

The managing director of the nursing home, Subhashis Basu, said the accused nurse, in her late 50s, had been working for a long time.

“There has never been any complaint against her. We will speak to her and others present at the time to find out what had happened,” Basu said.

Biswajit said his father had been admitted to the Jatin Das Road hospital four years ago as well because of respiratory problems.

“My father used to earn a living selling flowers. He stopped working a few years ago because of his failing health,” he said.