New Delhi: Sixty-one-year-old Tejpal, a resident of Rewari in Haryana, was deeply troubled by his son Rishipal’s growing alcohol dependence. A small-time shop owner with limited means but strong resolve, he was desperate to find a solution that could save his 28-year-old son from the grip of addiction.Tejpal was frantically exploring options when he came across a message scribbled on a wall, promising help in quitting addiction. Believing it to be the lifeline he was desperately looking for, Tejpal dialed the number.The person on the other end assured him of proper care and recovery, filling him with hope that Rishipal could finally overcome his struggle. A trusting Tejpal admitted his son to the facility — a private de-addiction center in southwest Delhi’s Dichaon Kalan — on Dec 3, 2025.After five days, Rishipal was dead. “I thought my son would recover, but the people at the center took his life,” Tejpal tells TOI.He had met the centre’s owner in person before sending over Rishipal. The owner convinced him of the facility’s credibility, showing him videos and photographs on his phone that painted the picture of a well-maintained centre, where doctors regularly visited and inmates participated in yoga sessions and rehabilitation activities. Everything appeared professional and reassuring. In reality, though, all of it existed only on paper.Rishipal’s uncle, Vijay, says the family was charged Rs 8,000 per month. We paid Rs 3,000 in advance apart from a Rs 1,000 registration fee at the time of admission. “I used to call up the center for the next four days to ask after him, but the person who answered the call never let me speak to my son, saying he was fine,” Tejpal says.On Dec 8, the family received a phone call informing them that “Rishipal’s condition has deteriorated”. Shortly after, another call confirmed his death. Tejpal alleged that his son had been assaulted by people at the centre.Rishipal is survived by his widow and three young children. The family lives in Garhi Alawalpur village in Haryana. Police arrested the owner of the centre, and a case under Section 105 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) was registered. A case is on; The next hearing is on April 23, the bereaved family says. The center is still operational.Life Snuffed Out At 22The story of 22-year-old Arun Kumar is equally tragic. Last year, his family admitted him to a de-addiction center at Hiranki Village, Alipur, hoping it would help him mend his ways and start a new life. What his relatives didn’t anticipate was that he would never return home.Arun lived with his family in Burari and was the youngest of three siblings. His father, Monu, is an e-rickshaw driver, and his mother, Neena, is a homemaker. Neena tells TOI, “Every parent wants his or her child to be on the right path and leave drugs behind. That’s why we admitted him to the center after getting to know of it from an ad pasted on an electricity pole.”Arun lost his life in the early hours of March 27, 2026, after 11 months at the centre. Police arrested his namesake, Arun Joshi, a chemical engineer and a co-inmate, who claimed to have knifed the young man to avenge an alleged abuse by the latter a few days earlier.On March 26, Neena visited her son at the center and found he was fine. She didn’t mention any argument, and no one from the center informed her of any trouble. The following morning, a staffer called her up and said she had been attacked. “They didn’t tell me he had been killed. My husband and I rushed to the center and Arun lying in a pool of blood. Even then, officials at the facility assured me that he would be fine,” she says. That, though, was not to be.Neena wonders how the attacker got hold of a knife inside the de-addiction centre. The deceased’s sister, Varsha, feels the guards should have monitored the inmates closely. She says, “Everything sent to Arun used to be checked. So why wasn’t the knife detected? They claimed the attacker was mentally unstable, so why was he kept there?”The de-addiction course, with a monthly fee of Rs 6,000, was to last six months. Neena planned to bring Arun back home after that, but the center advised her he should be kept for a full year so that he recovers completely. “The staffer even promised me that they would help him get a job. I felt it was for his good, so I left him there,” Neena laments.Arun Joshi was arrested and sent to judicial custody. Police have asked the owner of the de-addiction center for a valid government-issued license.
