A senior citizen couple has been living in the porch of their Bandra bungalow for the past week as they have been locked out of their home by an alleged squatter. United Kingdom (UK)-based Russell Pereira, 82, & his wife Winifred, 70 have a 5,000 sq ft bungalow called ‘Adelaide’ at New Kantwadi off Perry Cross Road in Bandra West, worth Rs 50 crore.
When they landed in Mumbai on Nov 7 & reached their bungalow, they couldn’t open the front door as the locks had been changed, the couple told Mirror. While the house seemed to be in darkness, there was a sliver of light visible through a window. “We jumped the fence & sat inside the porch,” said Winifred. According to the Pereiras, a woman called Alice D’Souza, who is closely associated with a local church, is currently posing as the caretaker of the bungalow, where she is living with her son. The son allegedly came out of the house & got into a scuffle with the Pereiras. The Bandra police arrived & registered a Non-Cognisable (NC) offence against both parties. Winifred also said that the Bandra police warned them not to go inside the bungalow & harass Alice D’Souza.
When asked to comment about the property dispute, Pramod Kumbhar from Bandra police station said that Russell’s nephews & nieces, who are also legal heirs to the property, have allowed D’Souza to live in the bungalow as a caretaker. “Russell was asked to maintain the bungalow but he told the family that it wasn’t possible as he was based in Britain,” said Kumbhar, adding that the family then gave a letter to D’Souza, allowing her to live in the bungalow. The Pereiras had visited Mumbai in January this year & issued a legal notice to D’Souza to vacate the bungalow. “There is no proper communication between all legal heirs in the family,” said Kumbhar.
However, Winifred denied any miscommunication within the family. “My husband’s name is on the property card along with his deceased mother & deceased brother. We haven’t given power of attorney to D’Souza at all. We are very much in touch with all our family members.”
For the past week, the elderly couple has been living in the porch of their property without access to even a toilet. Even though there is a toilet in the backyard, it has been locked as well. The neighbours are coming to their aid by providing food, water & washroom.
“We are depending on our neighbours for tea & snacks. We are suffering from heat exhaustion. My blood pressure is high & I suffer from incontinence. I have to urinate in the garden at night. My husband is a heart patient with a disability in his leg. He has hearing loss & severe arthritis,” said Winifred, adding, “We are being treated like squatters despite being owners.”
Vashu Sumaya, a relative of the Pereiras said that he has complained to the grievance cell of the British High Commission & the Commissioner of Police.
Despite several attempts Alice D’Souza neither responded to calls or messages, nor opened the door for this reporter.
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