Kamalam, an 84-year-old woman, was found living in a bathroom with an Indian toilet outside her house in Kalliyoor, Nemom, in the outskirts of Thiruvananthapuram, by a police team. Neighbours and panchayat office members had alerted the police about the apparent cruel treatment meted out to the old woman by her son Balachandran and his wife Geethakumari.
“The explanation that the family gives is that Kamalam would go there on her own and eat her food there. But we have taken a case against them, under the Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act, 2007,” says VM Sreekumar, Nemom SI. The SI and PRO Mathiman had led the team to the house on Monday. Manorama News too had joined the rescue team.
The toilet, as seen in a video, was in a very bad state and the woman was in a weak condition.
This has happened before too, says the SI, and the police would keep taking the woman back to the house and warn the family. On Monday, when she was once again found in the toilet, the police took the woman to an old age home called Swapnakoodu. The video shows her as enjoying a meal at the shelter. She will be staying there for six months.
“On learning this, the son and the daughter-in-law have come to us and said that they want to take her back. They said they are breaking down the toilet outside the house and will have her stay inside the house. Once we are sure they would take care of her properly, we will send her with them,” adds Sreekumar.
The couple have a daughter who is married off and a son. The latter has apparently exchanged words with the neighbours for reporting about the old woman. The family reportedly has some domestic issues, the SI adds.