Kerala: Wife denies husband entry into house citing Covid-19

A person who returned from the United States to meet his family near Thenmala in the rural parts of Kollam district in Kerala was allegedly denied entry into the house by his family citing chances of Covid-19, though personal reasons were suspected to be involved.

A Madurai native, married to a woman hailing from Thenmala, about 60 kilometers from Kollam city, came down to meet his wife and two kids on August 15. He had to wait in the gate for hours as his wife denied entry citing Covid-19 suspicion. He had to return as efforts of the local panchayat authorities also did not yield any result.

Kerala witnessed several such incidents of persons coming from abroad and other states facing resistance from family and neighbours owing to Covid-19 suspicion. Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had strongly condemned such tendencies.

The person, aged around 35, came down from the US about a month back and reached Thenmala where his wife and two children were staying at a rented house. But the gate of the house remained locked and his wife did not respond to his calls to open the gate.

Though local panchayat authorities intervened on seeing the person's plight, his wife maintained that since there was a risk of Covid-19 spread he could not be allowed to enter the house.

Thenmala panchayat president Lailaja R, who tried to sort out the issue, said that though the woman was citing chances of Covid-19 as the main reason, it seems that there were other personal issues between the couple. Though panchayat authorities suggested him to undergo institutional quarantine, he maintained that he had already undergone mandatory quarantine after coming down from the US.

Since the woman was adamant on her stand, the panchayat authorities intervened and asked her to give the key of their car to the husband and he went to Tamil Nadu.