Cases of hapless old parents facing brunt from greedy children increase in RR

Rangareddy: The attacks on the elderly continue in some places of Rangareddy district on a regular basis. The children are torturing and harassing their old parents instead of supporting and taking care. In Rangareddy district, there are 84,496 elderly people who are above 60 years and they are getting a pension of Rs 2,016 per month from the government. It is alleged that their sons, daughters-in-law and grandchildren are forcibly taking this money from them and the hapless parents are mum in fear of losing the children.

The harassment of elderly parents continue regardless of whether they are poor or rich, but it is more visible in wealthy families with past possessions. It is said that 28.6 per cent of the elderly are being neglected by their children during normal times, and this number seems to have increased by 60 per cent after Covid. For the elderly who are bedridden, the number of such victims has increased and the government is running a 14,567 call center under the aegis of the Elderly Welfare Center for which complaints are being made.

In recent times, An elderly couple of Nawabpeta mandal was attacked and beaten mercilessly by their sons on the pretext of refusing to sell the ancestral land and this has gone viral on social media. In another such incident, A 65-year-old man from Chevella mandal committed suicide by hanging himself from a tree as there was no one standing by him in his old age due to his health problem. Recently, an elderly couple who were allegedly cheated by their son, who snatched the belongings and threw them out of the house, approached the district senior citizen center two days ago for justice. The elderly people said that everything we earned was given to our children and now in our old age even if we are suffering no one is looking at us. We also approached the police for justice, but the harassment did not stop.

For the welfare of the elderly, the parents of the elderly have brought the Maintenance Act 2007, applicable to those who are above 60 years of age, the maintenance expenses are paid from the children. The victims have to apply to the Revenue Divisional level Tribunal and after the hearing of RDO, the children will have to pay the maintenance expenses or else the elderly parents can also apply to the District Appellate Officer which allows them to take possession of the assets given to the children.