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Elder Abuse. It is actually a complex phenomenon which describes the act and effects of abusing an elderly person. For more on this subject please read WHO’s Report on Missing Voices (World Health Organization).
If you are looking for the specific LAW through which Parents & Senior Citizens (Elders) can seek protection against the abusive behaviour of their children then please visit this link.
REAL LIFE CASES
Given below are some real life cases of Elder Abuse in India. These cases though are only a tip of the iceberg !
Each case is a story of abandonment, harassment and torture. Each case reveals glaring violations of HUMAN RIGHTS of the old and the infirm. Each case shows how one’s own children can commit such INHUMAN Acts.
Though Elder Abuse can have perpetrators outside one’s own family too… but then the majority of cases happen when the elderly people’s own family is not treating them well.
Along with cases some news links on startling facts about Elder Abuse in India are also enumerated.
(A) Old Mothers are abandoned
Widowed elderly women who are dependent on their children are badly treated by them. In majority of cases the perpetrators think that by abandoning them on streets they would be able to rid themselves of their responsibility.
Ram Pyaari (Age 75) : She was beaten by her elder son and daughter-in-law who refused to give her food. Her younger son to whom she reportedly gave away all her wealth abandoned her on a bus-stop in Delhi. She was left to die on the street by her 2 sons.
His wife tells me that I am a burden for them since I am not earning. My health does not allow me to work, I want to die instead of living such a humiliating life.
Lakshmi (Age 77) : Her son is in army, but after marriage refused to look after her.
…my son, for whom I devoted my entire life, refused to even feed me when I was there. He scolded me if I did not work and earn.
Chinnammal Palaniappan (Age 75) : This old woman told locals who found her that her own family had driven her in a cattle feed cart and then dumped her on top of a garbage pile. She was left to die, for they had abandoned her.
We heard some moaning from the dump yard and when we went over we were shocked to find an old shrivelled woman lying in filth.
Rada Rani Biswas (Age 70) : She is reduced to begging on the streets of Vrindavan after her family including her son, ostracized her. Her son said…
“You have grown old. Now who is going to feed you? Go away.” ….. Her eyes filled with tears when she said, “What do I do? My pain had no limit.”
(B) Old Fathers are abandoned
It is not that women alone are mistreated by their family. Elderly men are also abused and abandoned by their children.
Old and ill fathers are ill-treated and discarded like garbage by their own family. And this generally happens when fathers stop earning or become dependent on their children.
I find it abhorring to see a growing prevalence of selfishness in Indian population.
How can they forget that their own existence is a gift from their parents ?
Children exist because their parents nourish them. Then why are people running away from the moral responsibility of even caring for their parents ???
I find only one answer for this…
Fast DEGRADING moral values of Indians !
And I for one do not subscribe to craps like….”no means to support them”….”lack of space at home”….”no money”…. “strict in-laws”….”thinking doesn’t match”….”defecating in house” (yes…you read that right)….and then some say….”interfering in-laws”….blah blah blah !
Its a pity that these abusers do not realize that one day they too would be sailing in the same boat. Their own children would abuse them then, for they would have seen their parents abusing their grand-parents.
B. Satyanarayana (80), a native of Dharmaraopeta in West Godavari district, has five sons and one daughter. The sons were all doing petty businesses. He underwent a knee surgery five months ago and the sons spent Rs.50,000 on the treatment. Later, they neglected him.
Another old man said : “My son has threatened to kill me, if I bequeath any property to my wife”.
(C) Both Mother and Father are abandoned
Humiliation by one’s own family forces many a parents to leave their nests. Some opt for living in Old Age Homes, while others end up begging on streets.
Its a gruesome scenario by all standards… and no amount of penal provision can compensate for the dishonor and humiliation suffered by these elderlies.
Government at best can promulgate laws… which is good !
But then its seriousness in tackling Elder Abuse would emerge only if these laws are implemented the way they are meant to be.
Still… how many parents would file complaints against their own children ?
Not many.
So till then… harassed parents would keep moving out of their supposed families and look for refuge in homes outside.
Sister Mary of the Home for the Aged says…
Earlier, we have had senior citizens left here by families. Today, more and more couples come to us on their own.
Old Age Homes preferred by many elders :
In many cases, the family members left them in the lurch, as they were unable to take care of them. ….The trend is on the rise, we received many calls from public run hospitals who are unable to discharge the patients.
Abandoned and old they watch life go by : Most abandoned old people have sons and daughters or other relatives who could take care of them. But they don’t.
We are just waiting for death to release us.
(D) False criminal charges are filed to torture the Old
This is another way of harassing the elderlies in India. An abuser of law would find it pretty easy to crucify old people at home by taking undue refuge in law in the guise of ’seeking protection’.
False ‘Dowry harassment’ charges to torture in-laws : This seems to be the easiest way to harass old people in India (despite what Amnesty International prefers to believe).
False bogus dowry harassment charges are filed by miscreants without any fear whatsoever.
And why no fear ?
Because there are absolutely no penalties for filing false dowry harassment charges in India ! And also because a mere complaint is enough to arrest without investigation (the offence is cognizable).
I wonder how Elder Abuse is any less in terms of gravity than Dowry Harassment in India !
And what when the fabricators of ‘false dowry harassment charges’ themselves are perpetrators of Elder Abuse in family ?
Or do the government or women NGOs prefer to believe that even in genuine cases of dowry harassment it is OK if Elder Abuse is committed in one’s defense ???
Infact both Judiciary and Police are aware of such malpractices. Even the legislators are aware of rampant misuse of anti-Dowry Laws but they FEAR speaking openly about them.
Shankar had sought the help of local miscreants to get the family evicted from the house. Shankar is a member of a political party. …..Shankar had the backing of his wife Ujjala and his father-in-law who is a state police officer. Ujjala had even filed a complaint under Section 498A of the IPC alleging harassment.
(E) Major Reason : Interest in Parent’s Wealth (Property)
Who doesn’t like money ? But then to think of acquiring it by harassing one’s own parents is unthinkable !
But then… this world has all kinds of people.
There are growing instances of children abusing their parents because they think that by harassing and depriving them of their basic needs they can force their parents to relinquish all property rights in their favour.
This is nothing but growing crime and criminality in Domestic environs. People (children in this case) turn criminals when they start harboring malicious intentions.
And forget about harboring alone… they start executing those intentions !!
Majority of cases on Elder Abuse are those where the perpetrator wants to grab the property of the elderly. 4 instances are quoted below…
- Prakash Mhatre (69) and his wife Sangeeta (63),… are facing eviction—and it is not because of the landlord. The one who is harassing them to leave is their son, Sandeep (44), who wants to sell their house.
- Anjum Patil (68), a widow….approached the police as a last resort, tired of the string of verbal abuses and threats she was facing from her 32-year-old son and his wife. They want her to sign over the property to them
- Anand Joshi (72) complained to the police about his 28-year-old banker son who refused to support him and was threatening to evict him from his own house.
In Delhi, an old lady suffering from arthritis was forced by her son to move to the second floor to sell off the other floors to a local builder and move out. The lady died soon after.
Some FACTS on Elder Abuse in India
1. According to HelpAge India, majority of elderlies are abused by their own children. A whopping 47.3 per cent cases of Elder Abuse are reported to have children as perpetrators !
2. Old people are taking care of the old now : I wonder where our society is headed !
3. When families break-up, the elderly suffer the most. In majority of cases they are left to fend for themselves.
Studies conducted recently among old people show that over 35 per cent of the elderly in urban areas and 32 per cent in rural areas live alone. There is nobody to look after them – and financial constraints and lack of security add to their troubles. ….An increasing number of the elderly are now looking for employment, mostly for low wages, and under insecure and unhealthy working conditions.
4. Successful suicides are highest among Senior citizens, says Dr. Harish Awasthi, a mental health activist.
5. Children disowning their parents only speaks of moral degradation of society. It also bespeaks of torrid times in store for future India…. where the younger generation is more intent on doing away with the old.
6. Mindless westernization has brought back slavery to India ! The younger generation is aping the concept of doing away with their parents by sending them to old age homes. For some though it might be a genuine solution to a genuine problem but for a large majority it is otherwise !
New emerging Trends
This one comes as a shocker : And could be a growing trend since women are taking to crime as well. DCP Sanjay Mohite, in charge of the Social Counselling Cell of Mumbai Police says…
Recently, I had to intervene in a case in which a young woman was beating and threatening her own mother, who had approached us reluctantly. I called the daughter to my office and told her in no uncertain terms that she should stop this ill treatment at once.
..which compels me to make this comment…
When a daughter can beat and threaten her own mother then what makes one presume that she would not ill-treat her own mother-in-law ????? That too when there is no law to stop her from doing so ??
Well… to conclude… these were only a few insights into Elder Abuse in India. I am sure there must be more of these kinds or even new.
If you know of links or real life instances of more such cases or trends then please do share them by posting in the comment space of this post.
Also Read:
The Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act, 2007
State Commissions for Women in India
State Human Rights Commissions in India
Video – Home away from home – Old Age Homes
Old Age Homes in Delhi NCR
Benefits, Concessions and Schemes for Senior Citizens in India
Related Reading:
Every second elder abused over property
WHO Report on Elder Abuse in India
WHO: Missing voices: views of older persons on elder abuse
Dignity Foundation
Sucheta Dalal : Embalming the Fractured Society
Filed under: Amnesty, Culture, Family, Human Rights, India, Law, Life, News, Relationships, Society | Tagged: 498A, Abuse of Law, Amnesty International, Complaints, Crime, Divorce, Domestic Violence, Dowry, Elder Abuse, Elder Care, Elder Neglect, Elderlies, Elderly, False cases, Misuse of Law, Neglect, Older Persons, Parents, real life account, Rights of Elders, Senior Citizens, Social Justice, World Health Organization
Thank for posting the pdf file on the law and help make the distinguishen betwen a bill and an Act.
Your posting on the mistreatment of elderly is a great service to the community. It keeps our mind open in a culture where we are less likely to be transparent about abuse issues regardless of age. keep the dialogue continuing. …
Thanks Shantha. Am glad that you found it helpful.
You are right… society is less likely to be transparent about such issues… more so because elders hide abusive behaviour of their children.
Its time the world realized that ill-treatment of elders is as much a reality in India as respect for elders is. Nuclear families, stress on independence, materialism… all are slowly robbing us of our true values. No wonder the abusive behaviour abounds !
And coming to solution… law is not a panacea for this evil. What really has to change lies within us !
Dea Sir,
I have gone through above useful information which is very useful to individual who intend to seek legal advise.
I have someting this kind of issue with my son. My son who dis his B.E in computer Science in the year 2004. After doing his B.E went canada for doing his Masters in Networking from George Brown university.
His expenses for his study in India and canada were borne by me and my brother in U.S.He worked for 1.5 years in Canada.
He has been very violent. His behaviour is not good. He could not perform satisfactoryly for that he blames me my wife and my relatives. he has become very violent some time he starts beating his mother and abusing has become his regular practise. some or how he craetes some isuues on which he would like to fight with my family members. he do not want to do any job but he wants to make all the calculations of my earning and he would like to save the money with thought that he would like to use the same when I will grow old.
Further, he is also scared of his sister thinking that she will be a part of my properity or I will give her.
He always use very assulting language to me my wife and to my relatives.
I can anticipate he would bother me in future, specialy his mother as he can take her on ride easily. i am worried. i want you to please guide me how to handle him in such situation.
I am awaiting your reply soon.
Thanks and regards
Ajay singhal
[...] by the World Health Organization that misuse of marital laws is the biggest reason behind elder abuse in India and taking this step to reduce misuse will automatically reduce elder abuse as [...]
Just saw Mr A K Singhal’s letter. I can feel the pain and helplessness. Our family is also going thru a similar situation. Calling 100 doesnt help as the policeman who comes just makes money and support the other party, they even make fun of the elderly and advise them not to take advantage of being senior citizens. Recently I have been told by the local SHO that at 64, a person is fit enough to contront his 3 youngers brothers and their families and should not ask for help! He should just keep quiet and simply ignore the abuses. How inhuman is that! Insults, physical and mental harrasment, frustration and depression is killing an elderly couple whoes only wish is to live peacefully in their ancestoral house and no one is there to help! The only son is also forced to live away from them and constantly being threatened. Anyway whatever I am writing is just another story for the police. There is so much publicity about the rights of senior citizens and delhi police but only in newspapers, nothing to do withg reality.
Thanks to all who took time to go through this.
kalpana
keep a diary and keep trying, it will happen one day.
try the human rights organisations, I am not familiar with India, but there may be some help there, bully’s always pick on people more vunerable, you maybe have to take a stand, though I do not know how violent they can be, so for you to judge.
regards
Janette
I retired from Lagan Jute Machinery Co. Ltd (LJMC) as MD on January 1996 in its un -revised scale of pay when it was fully owned by Govt. of India, Ministry of Heavy Industries and also making profit.
Pay scale of Board level posts of PUC was revised Vide OM no 2(5O)/86-DPE (WC) dared 19-07-1995 where effect was given from 01-01-1992.
Pay revision of LJMC was not implemented for some technical reasons immediately, but the same was implemented as per Govt.’s clearance no F.No.8 (24)/95-PE-III dated October 8, 1997 in respect of executives and non unionized supervisory staff of Lagan, among others but no arrears was given even for retired employees except the CM.
During 2000-01the major share holding of the Co. was divested, the process was handled by BBUNL the holding Co under administrative control and direction of Department of Heavy Industries.
the pension scheme were not paid before divestment is still not clear to me Under what compulsion even the dues of the retired employees who were not covered by. However in share holders agreement between BBUNL (Bharat Bhari Uddag Nigam) and MREL (The joint venture Co) on 10-05-2000 stipulated that “JVP agrees and confirm s that JVP shall cause LJMC to honour all the out standing contracts and commitments and timely payment of all the existing debts// liabilities of LJMC…. on the date of signing of the agreement.”
Since my retirement I made appeal after appeal to the Chairman of BBUNL, Secretary, Ministry of Heavy industries and others and even to the then PM’s office. PM at least passed on the same to Ministry for taking action and make Ministry to wake up and after five years two months after my retirement issued the sanction of my revised pay vide letter no 13(1)/93 –PE.III dated April 30, 20001 but it was end there with the change of administration.
I made further appeal to present PM as well as Secretary heavy industries again and again but of no use since it was not a priority item
.
Since neither I was satisfied with what ever replies I received nor the reasons for non-payment, when like flood get opened every where for salary increase etc on pressure.
When I was touching almost 70 and living with serious heart ailment, this total injustice was so un tolerable for me that I was loosing interest of life and to come out from depression I was compelled to move a writ petition (W.P.No.5142 (W) of 2005 before the Hon’ble High Court at Calcutta against the Union Govt. and others for my dues.
His lordship Justice A.K. Banerjee was pleased to dispose the writ application on March 2006 by an order that the petitioner has the liberty to approach the appropriate forum for the redressal of the grievances within six weeks time he would be entitled to take recourse of section 19 of the limitation act if required” to since that lime Company’s major share was with the private owner.
As directed by Hon’ble court a legal notice was issued u/ss 433 and 434 of the company’s act 56 and co was asked to pay the dues against the company within 21 days in default preceding to the face a winding up of the Company.
Writ appeal C.P. No. 176 of 2006 before High court at Calcutta. His lordship was pleased to pass an order on 5-01-2007 admitting the winding up petition.
The deponent preferred a writ appeal against the order while the Divisional Bench was admitted the appeal and directed the Company to deposit Rs.1,40,000 with the register within 21 days.
The said writ appeal APO No 49 0f 2007 was taken up for hearing by the Divisional Bench and their lordships re delegate the claim of the petitioner to civil suit and allow a time of four weeks to the petitioner for filing a of such suit.
I was not satisfied with the judgment for the reason that since the court has already accepted the claim there was no purpose for civil suit which would only take time and cost. Co was trying to buy time and was keeping a close watch on my Deteriorating health of the petitioner.
I filed a SLP to Supreme Court on July2007 where court made the following order on the hearing dated 07-07-08 vide SLP no. 14979 of 2007
Leave granted. Hearing is expedited.
Once again the notice of lodgment of the petition of appeal under section XVI was to the respondent was received on 20-02-09 dated 30-01-09 with a time to contest within 30 days which was a clear case of manipulation done by appellant – A document took 20 days to reach 10 km distance.
However I have sent all detail to concern advocate on next day with the hope at least Supreme court will not be influenced by the party.
Very useful info here, and eye-opening facts…. Indian society need so sit up and take notice!
Seek your help, readers -
How to protect my parents from further tyranny of false and frivolous criminal cases, by my sister in law. She hasn’t spent more than 2 months with them, and the false 498 case that she has filed has taken away the joy in our lives. My parents have grown older by 10 yrs in just last 3 years! They cannot go to visit their grandkids abroad, they have underwent multiple surgeries, but don’t rehabilitate properly because of such great stress! They are constantly blaming themselves for ruining our brother’s life. I cannot watch them live like this, but we feel helpless. Please provide contact where we can get dependable legal advice. It is time to counter sue the D-I-L for causing such grave harrassment and abuse of senior citizens. Thanks so much.