Elderly couple sitting on the stairs outside their house in Greater Noida Housing Society.
An elderly couple, who own a flat in a housing society in Greater Noida, are forced to spend the night on the stairs outside the house as the tenant – a woman – has refused to vacate it. Sunil Kumar and Rakhi Gupta have spent more than a week on the stairs with their belongings but the ordeal is still on. The couple owns a flat on the 15th floor in Shree Radha Sky Garden Society in Sector 16B, Greater Noida. He says that the rent agreement was over a month ago.
“We leased our flat to Ms. Preeti in July 2021. The lease period was 11 months, which ended last month. And we also informed her to vacate the flat two months back as we have to shift here. But he did pay no heed to our messages, and kept delaying it,” Ms Gupta told NDTV on Thursday, tearfully.
“We sent a reminder in May but she asked us to come, saying she would get us a separate house on rent,” she adds.
The tenant is a 35-year-old woman. Ms Gupta said she stopped responding to his messages and calls after some time.
Mr. Kumar was working for Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) in Mumbai and retired in March this year. They stayed at a relative’s place after coming to Greater Noida in the hope that the woman would vacate the flat.
Mr. Kumar said that the rent agreement was correct. “It ended on 10th June this year and we duly followed all the procedures informing the tenant two months back on 19th April. He replied to my message saying ‘okay’ and we would be with all our belongings on his assurance shifted,” he said. ,
“My wife met the tenant on July 19 and once again assured us that she would vacate the flat. But two hours later, I got her message that ‘I will not let you enter my house’,” he said.
Ms. Gupta said, “She kept saying ‘I am the owner of this house’. And that hurt me the most.” He said that he fears that his tenant has forged some forged papers to claim the ownership of this house.
The elderly couple approached the police, and the police visited the house and asked the tenant to come to the police station. But she hasn’t gone there yet. “Now I am planning to meet the police commissioner. But the police is saying it is a civil matter. I don’t know how long it will take to resolve this issue, and how long I will be here with all my belongings on the stairs. But can I sit?” said Mr. Kumar.
The couple says that it is wandering from door to door but no one is providing a solution. “They are just asking us to fight it in court, but it will take too long,” Ms Gupta said, repeatedly choking.
Tenant was not available for comment. The couple told NDTV that they had promised to vacate the house by Thursday after contacting the police, but have been missing since morning.