Washington, Jan 15 : A Michigan judge has fined a 72-year-old cancer patient for not taking care of his overgrown yard.
Burhan Chowdhury, 72, and his son Shibbir appeared for an online court appointment for a citation they received in May 2021 for their unkept yard in Michigan, reports CNN.
“You should be ashamed of yourself,” District Judge Alexis G Krot said regarding the yard as seen in an online recording of the Zoom appearance. “Have you seen that photo? That is shameful.”
“If I could give you jail time on this I would… That is totally inappropriate.”
Krot ordered a fine of $100 after Shibbir said the yard conditions did violate the city ordinance, CNN reported.
According to the report, Burhan, who has lymphoma, was too weak to care for the yard while his son was in Bangladesh from May to August 2021.
Upon returning from Bangladesh, Shibbir told CNN he “immediately” arranged for the court appearance and cleaned the yard.
“My father was trying to explain that he was sick and he had cancer,” Shibbir said. “We didn’t expect she could tell us like this. Maybe she could have told us more respectfully or maybe, like, normally how people speak,” he said. referring to the judge.
Since the hearing went viral, a Change.org petition has been circulating online demanding Krot’s removal.
