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According to an Older Persons Property Victimisation Survey carried out by HelpAge India in 2007, most elderly people living with their children, in Delhi, face intense pressure to either sell off their property or transfer ownership to their sons or daughters
Every second elderly person in Delhi faces harassment over property or knows another senior citizen who is being harassed. Delhi’s elite, who live in colonies in south Delhi where property rates have skyrocketed, have the highest number of property-related harassment cases in the capital. South Delhi has registered 41.6% of cases followed by central Delhi with 20.8% of cases. Fifty per cent of harassment cases are being inflicted on parents by their children or children-in-law. These details were highlighted in the Older Persons Property Victimisation Survey (OPPVS) carried out by HelpAge India in 2007. The survey covered 2,000 respondents aged between 65 and 91, living in 50 colonies across the capital. Only 402 seniors agreed to speak on record. Lajpat Nagar, Saket and Rajinder Nagar were found to have the highest incidence of harassment of elders. North Delhi emerged as the most “elderly-sensitive” zone, with only 5.5% of harassment cases being reported from there.
Almost half of those who spoke on record admitted that the situation had reached a point where they had been forced to report the matter to the police. The rest were fearful of lodging complaints because they were afraid their children might take revenge on them. “Physical frailty and emotional dependence on the abuser” were cited as the most common reasons for not going to the police. The questionnaires were distributed by elderly persons from senior citizen’s welfare bodies. The survey pointed out that a majority of elderly people living with their children faced intense pressure to either sell off their property or transfer ownership to their sons or daughters.
If they refused they were subjected to physical injury, verbal abuse and, in extreme cases, food was denied to them. They were kept in forced isolation and not allowed to meet their friends and relatives. They were also not allowed to walk outside or receive phone calls. Nidhi Raj Kapoor, Head of Communications, HelpAge India, points out that another form of abuse is when parents are relentlessly pestered for money to support their son’s or daughter’s extravagant lifestyle. The elderly also face harassment from neighbours who exert pressure on them to sell their property. One elderly gentleman complained about his house being pelted with stones by neighbours, while another spoke of how his parking space was deliberately blocked. HelpAge believes the incidence of property-related harassment could be much higher among Delhi’s 11 lakh elderly population but a large number of them were too afraid to speak out. Many also complained of lack of faith in the legal system and the police.
Some older men complained that in the case of property disputes, their wives often took the side of their sons leaving them virtually alone to fight the battle. Arbind Prasad, Joint Secretary, Ministry for Social Justice and Empowerment, points out that the recent enactment by Parliament of the Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Bill, 2007, was a key step in stopping such harassment. “The Bill provides for a three-month jail term if children do not look after their old parents. The penal provision is meant to act as a deterrent,” says Prasad. However, although the Bill says that parents can claim maintenance under the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC), it is both time-consuming and expensive. There is a need for simple, inexpensive and speedy provision for the care of parents.Because of this, the Bill has ordered the setting up of tribunals in each district to help the elderly in times of distress. According to Dr Kalyan Bagchi, President, Society for Gerontological Research, problems specific to old age, including dementia, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease, should be highlighted. -- Rashme Sehgal InfoChange News & Features, March 2008
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