Ankur Varma, a lawyer from Ropar in Punjab was arrested for assaulting his 73-year-old mother along with his wife and son. This brings to light the condition of senior citizens and raises a question on their legal rights.
The 73-year-old senior citizen in question, Asha Rani’s husband, recently died because of a heart attack. She had informed her daughter Deepshikha that her son, Ankur Varma and his wife, Sudha had assaulted her.
The shocking incident from Chandigarh revealed that a 73-year-old woman had endured endless torture and thrashing at the hands of her son, daughter-in-law as well as her grandson in her own home.
A Closer Look At The Details Of The Assault Case:
As per an NDTV report, Asha Rani’s son who is a lawyer by profession was arrested based on evidence collected from a CCTV camera footage that he himself had installed in his mother’s room. Videos sourced from the CCTV footage saw the elderly woman being tortured and thrashed in a merciless manner by her own family members.
The victim in the case, who identified as Asha Rani was a resident of Rupnagar, Punjab and resided there with her son, daughter-in-law and grandson. Her husband had passed away due to a cardiac arrest very recently and she had informed her daughter, Deepshikha about her son, Ankur Varma and his wife Sudha collectively assaulting her.
The daughter upon learning that her mother is being ill treated by her very own kith and kin, managed to get her hands on footage from the CCTv cameras installed in her mother, Asha Rani’s room and was certainly taken aback by what she saw.
All The Gory Details Of The CCTV Video Of The Assault:
— ANI (@ANI) October 29, 2023#WATCH | Rupnagar: The police registered a case against Advocate Ankur Varma and arrested him yesterday.
SHO Pawan Kumar says, "Ankur Varma was arrested yesterday and was presented before the court. The court sent him on a one-day police remand."
(28.10.2023) pic.twitter.com/yKQhrdho8F
The video footage showed Ankur, his wife Sudha and their son beating up Asha Rani with no mercy. The footage of the assault collected from September 19, 2023, October 21, 2023 and Oct 24, 2023 show Ankur slapping and punching his mother on several occasions. The videos also show Sudha slapping her mother-in-law Asha Rani and the grandson dragging her.
The victim’s daughter Deepshikha filed a police complaint which led to the cops and some volunteers from an NGO arriving at Asha Rani’s house and rescuing her on Saturday, October 28, 2023.
During his mother’s rescue, Ankur revealed that he had been serving his mother who, according to him, was not in the right mental state. The convict had been arrested for being registered under sections linked to wrongful confinement, causing hurt to extort property and Section 24 of the Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act.
In this light we take your through legal rights of the senior citizens in India with a particular focus on elderly women.
What are crimes against senior citizens?
Senior citizens are victims of crimes against body, crimes against property, economic crimes and even rape. According to Delhi police, relatives, domestic helps and persons known to victims commit around 40 percent of heinous crimes against senior citizens.
What are the legal protection provisions for senior citizens in India?
The Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act, 2007, was enacted by Parliament to provide financial security, welfare and protection to senior citizens. This landmark legislation was initiated by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment.
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Section 24 of the Act gives protection to senior citizens:
Section 24 of the Act shows that it gives protection to the senior citizens in any place if they are abandoned and the said act is punishable with imprisonment of 3 months or fine thereby the person who intentionally abandons a senior citizen is liable for punishment.
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Section 9 of the Act provides relief from neglect to senior citizens:
This section provides relief from neglect. The magistrate may order a person to make a monthly allowance for maintenance in a case where any person who has sufficient means neglects or refuses to maintain his/her father or mother who is unable to maintain themselves.
