The picture on the left is of Parvez Ansari, 19, which was clicked six months back. The picture on the right was taken a week back.

Parvez, a resident of Thakurgunj in Ranchi, Bihar, was working as a labourer in Ahmedabad, Gujarat. After the lockdown was announced, Parvez wanted to go back home, anyhow. But he could never reach home. He passed away on April 23 in Ahmedabad.

On April 16, Parvez released a video in which he made an appeal to be sent back home. The video was quite shocking as Parvez was so weak that he couldn’t even talk.

After the video went viral on social media, people requested the Gujarat and Jharkhand governments to intervene. On April 19, the Ahmedabad police admitted Parvez to a hospital. It was revealed that both his kidneys had malfunctioned and he also had TB.

Tohid Ansari (25), Parvez’s elder brother, informed Gaon Connection over the phone: “Parvez had called us on March 22. He informed that he was unwell, wasn’t getting food to eat, and didn’t have money. I sent him Rs 1,200, but he couldn’t withdraw. Soon after this, the lockdown was announced. He couldn’t get himself treated. He was fine when he had come home six months back.”

He added: “After the video went viral, he was admitted to a hospital. Whenever I would call him, he would say he was not getting food or good treatment. He was a labourer. He was stuck elsewhere because of the lockdown. We would have looked after him if he could have come here. The government should make sure that no other labourer should suffer like this.”

Parvez’s brother-in-law was in touch with him. He said: “On March 20-21 Parvez had called to inform that he was unwell and that doctors had given him 15 days of TB medication. We were in the process of booking tickets when the lockdown was announced. We waited, but then the lockdown was extended.”

He added: “On April 16, when we spoke to him through a video call, we were shocked. He was admitted to a hospital after we shared the video. He didn’t have corona. He informed me that he wasn’t given any medicine. The doctors were waiting for his reports.”

In this audio Parvez is heard talking to his sister.

Thakurgunj falls in the Mander constituency in Ranchi. Bandhu Tirki, the MLA, said: “We are far away. He believed whatever we were told. No one dies of TB so soon. God knows, what kind of treatment he was receiving. He wanted to come home, but couldn’t because of the lockdown.”

When Gaon Connection spoke to RT Udavat, the station-in-charge at the Amraiwadi police station, he said: “He was very unwell. We admitted him to a hospital. His family informed us that he had arrived in Ahmedabad a year back and was working with a packaging company.”

Raghubir, the head constable at the Amraiwadi police station, who admitted Parvez to the hospital, said: “His feet were swollen. He was coughing. His neighbours said he had TB. We gave him food, but he couldn’t eat. People were not going anywhere near him as the symptoms were like corona. We admitted him to a hospital. He died on April 23.”