Homeless maid takes to Facebook to get a house in Mumbai

Facebook isnrsquot just a platform for selfies memes and lsquofriendsrsquo you havenrsquot met in years Take Veena Naresh Shirke a housemaid who has become an unlikely member of the social media network The 38yearold has taken to the website and created her own profile in order to drum up some support in her attempts to wrest property from relatives who she claims took it from herThis is the picture Veena has put up on her Facebook page showing her surrounded by utensils suitcases and a stoolIn the past 14 days Veena has been posting a slew of updates about her fight for a 200sqft house in a chawl at Khar West Her page shows her squatting in an open plot surrounded by her utensils suitcases and a stool The dispute over the apartment started after the death of her husbandVeena who works in several buildings and residential complexes as a maid said ldquoIn houses where I work I often used to hear the children talk of Facebook This was also mentioned on television serials that I watched So I was keen on opening an account and did so six months agordquoAs a gesture of protest Veena has been camping out in the open just outside the redeveloped chawl where she once had a homeVeenarsquos brother helped her create the account After the death of her husband she was embroiled in a property dispute over a house that she claims he inherited from his mother It was then that she decided to use Facebook to garner some support Yesterday Veenarsquos timeline showed updates posted for 13 consecutive days So far her updates have only attracted lsquolikesrsquo from her neighbours relatives and friendsAfter her marriage in 2006 Veena started living with her husband in his chawl along with other members of his family including her brotherin law Buddheshwar Shirke his wife and their daughter In 2007 the entire chawl was taken over by Lok Group for redevelopment The entire joint family was asked to move While Buddheshwar and his family moved to another apartment Veena and her husband Naresh rented out a room in a society at Khar DandaVeenarsquos Facebook page shows her living in an open plot surrounded by her utensils suitcases and a stool The dispute over the apartment started after the death of her husbandVeena and Naresh would receive a cheque of around Rs 1 lakh annually from Lok Group in lieu of the land they had taken from them The owner of their rented accommodation however soon decided to sell the plot and the couple was rendered homeless yet again With no other option left Veena and Naresh moved into her fatherrsquos houseFamily disputeIn February 2013 Naresh passed away It was then that she decided to stake her claim to his familial property ldquoI was left homeless after my house was demolished for redevelopment and the temporary flat where I used to stay with my late husband was sold offAs I was not receiving help from anywhere I decided to share my plight with pictures on my Facebook accountrdquo added Veena She first turned to Lok Group asking them to give her a room in the society built by them where the chawl earlier stood under the Slum Rehabilitation Authority SRA schemeldquoWhen I went to the builderrsquos office to submit the legal documents of the house in the chawl a person there asked to see the agreement which he claimed had been handed over to my husband before his death I have no clue about thisMy brotherinlaw claims that the property belongs to my motherinlaw Vijayabai Shirke and so there would be equal distribution of the wealth However I have an affidavit signed by my motherinlaw stating that the legal heir would be Naresh Shirke my husbandrdquo said VeenaBrotherinlaw Buddheshwar however says that he or his family members are not denying her a share of the property ldquoNaresh was our youngest brother and we will definitely give his part of the property to her This piece of land belonged to our mother Vijayabai Shirke and all her sons are the legal heirs of the property I donrsquot know what affidavit she is talking about and as far as I believe it is a fake onerdquo said BuddheshwarHowever Veenarsquos brother said that his sister is being denied her rights ldquoI am just concerned about her future Who will be responsible if anything happens to my sister who has no home of her own Where should she gordquo asked a worried Umesh SantaramBuilder speaksSuhas Kshirsagar spokesperson for Lok Group of builders ldquoIt is a family dispute so we are no one to come in between Our job is to follow the laws Why would we have any issues giving her a house otherwise We are doing our duty dedicatedly by giving her a monthly cheque of Rs 10000 Just that the guidelines under SRA scheme donrsquot allow us to give her a house without the succession certificaterdquo