Kovalam: Police rescued a 77-year-old bedridden US citizen, locked up in a hotel room near the beach on Monday.
He was found with bed sores and ants all over the body, health department officials said.
The foreigner has been identified as Irvin Fox of Pennsylvania, US. Police said he has been locked up in the room for several months.
A tip-off led the police, health department officials and volunteers from Pallium India, a charitable trust striving to alleviate health-related sufferings, to Fox, who had arrived at Kovalam more than a year ago. The officials said they could hear the man crying in pain when they approached the room.
The US citizen was provided first-aid and the hotel owner was ordered to provide him better medical treatment, police said.
Health department officials said Fox was injured in a fall, and had received treatment. However, he was not provided further treatment, but was kept in the hotel room, locked from outside.
It has been reported that the hotel authorities picked up a quarrel with the police team that had gone there to investigate.
