The ancestral house of legendary Bangla film actress Suchitra Sen in Pabna town has decayed without proper care, since it was freed from occupiers in July 2014 on orders of the Supreme Court.

A museum was to be set up at the property following the evacuation, according to an SC verdict. However, nothing but signs of neglect are visible there as Bangalees across the border observe the third death anniversary of the film icon today.

It feels like the premises have long been left uncared for as grasses have grown wild on the lawn, some doors and windows gone missing and garbage have been thrown everywhere.

Moreover, drug addicts use the place as a safe haven for their illegal activities, local people said.

Suchitra Sen, one of the biggest cultural icons for Bangalees, died of a heart attack at a Kolkata nursing home at the age of 82, having been loved by people for three decades for her ethereal beauty and intense celluloid performance. She was born on April 6, 1931 at her grandfather's home at Vangabari of Belkuchi upazila of the then greater Pabna, but her first home was in Gopalpur, her father Karunamoy Dasgupta's house.

Named Roma Dasgupta, she grew up in the small district town and went to school way into her teens. Her family moved to Kolkata a few months after the 1947 partition. But next to no evidence remains of this glamorous person in Pabna.

“This is surprising that the historic house of Suchitra Sen is poorly maintained,” said theatre artiste Mustafizur Rahman Russel, one of the key organisers of the movement demanding the house be freed.

Imam Gazzali Trust, a Jamaat-e-Islami backed organisation, had run the primary section of an education institution named Imam Gazzali Institute at the house at Gopalpur since 1987.

The institute was moved from there after the SC order paved the way for establishing "Suchitra Sen Smrity Sangrohashala”, a museum to archive memories of Suchitra.

The government freed the house from the grabbers but it is yet to comply with the order of establishing a museum, said Jakir Hossain, another activist who led the movement against the occupation. 

People in Pabna will go for agitation again if no step is taken for proper maintenance of the house, he added.

The house is under the cultural affairs ministry that has not given any directive regarding its maintenance since the court order, said Pabna Deputy Commissioner Rekha Rani Balo.

The district administration sometimes does some work of maintenance on its own, she added.

Against this backdrop, cultural activists said their agitation and the long legal battle that led to the removal of the grabbers would fail if the house continues to lie in ruins.