Bringing to the fore the dark side of family bonds, a survey by Helpage India, an NGO, has found that at a time when they should have enjoyed their twilight years, elders as old as 80 years were being forced to make the rounds of the courts, fighting cases of abuses — physically and mental — against their own children, son/daughter-in-law.
The survey conducted in two districts each in Haryana, Punjab, Kerala and Tamil Nadu said at least 40 per cent of those who knocked the door of the court were in their seventies followed by 60-69 years (31.3 per cent).
Nearly one-third (29 per cent) were in the age group more than 80 years; which is a matter of concern, said the study conducted to assess effectiveness of "Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act (2007)" aimed to protect their welfare.
The recently released survey found that 58 per cent of the seniors faced physical abuse such as beating, hitting and all kind of physical assault by their own children or son/daughter-in-law while 29 per cent suffered mental torture. Most cases of physical abuse were reported from Punjab, mental torture from Kerala and neglect from Tamil Nadu.
The study noted that 70 per cent filed case against the son/s in Punjab and Kerala, 21 per cent against the daughter/s in Tamil Nadu, Haryana and Kerala and 9 per cent against relatives like sons in law in Punjab, Haryana and Tamil Nadu.
"These states were selected based on the preparedness to implement the Act and the number of cases filed and settled over a period of time. Two districts from each State were selected based on the highest number of petitions filed - Amritsar and ludhiana from Punjab, Ambala and Gurugram from Haryana, Ernakulam and Thiruvananthapuram from Kerala, Chennai and Thiruvallur from Tamil Nadu," said Mathew Cherian, CEO, HelpAge India.
The details of 115 petitioners who had filed the case under the said Act, 44 stakeholders and 9 tribunal fact sheet were analysed to derive conclusions for the study. The results were heart-wrenching.
Among all the petitioners, 52 per cent had applied for maintenance allowance while 48 per cent for property related disputes including the revoking of Will. The maintenance related petitions were highest in Punjab and property related petitions were high, both, in Kerala and Tamil Nadu. Majority of the petitioners resided in urban, semi urban (urban outskirts) and municipality areas (47 per cent in urban areas or cities, 36 per cent in urban out skirts and 2.6 per cent in Municipalities).
Only 14.7 per cent of the seniors resided in rural areas, this could be due to lack of information.
However, getting justice from the Tribunals was not an easy task. At least, 33 per cent petitioners mentioned facing problems while the petition was under consideration. 42 per cent had to make repeated visits to the Tribunal as the date of hearing was not communicated in writing.
"At least 42 per cent complained in delay in hearing on the appointed date. The wait became even more inconvenient as there were no facilities like toilet, waiting rooms and cafeteria. Also, some reported difficulty in commuting to the Tribunal while many faced open disapproval by family members for filing the petition," said the study.
Among all the petitioners, 57.4 per cent cases were settled, 33.9 per cent were pending and only 8.7 per cent were withdrawn. "This could be due to lacunae in the reconciliation process adopted in practice. One important factor could be minimal or no involvement of district social justice/welfare officers. This needs to be explored further to enable the older person to bond with their family and live with them instead of confrontation and punitive action," the study has recommended.