Police rescue 75-yr-old woman, son arrested

The Delhi Police have rescued a 75-year-old woman allegedly abandoned by her son after registering its first case under the Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizen Act about 8 years of its coming into being.

The woman was found wandering near the Lodhi Colony police station on August 16. The police took her to the police station in a run-down condition and tried to comfort her, a senior officer said.

Since the woman was not forthcoming about her whereabouts, the police took her to a shelter home, where it was learnt that she could be admitted there only by her blood relations or through a court order. Later, a court directed the police to look for the family of the woman. They have traced her son Ranu, a resident of Kotla Mubarakpur in south Delhi. Police questioned Ranu, who claimed that his mother was not mentally fit and had left the home without his knowledge.

Nevertheless, the woman’s condition indicated otherwise, and a case under Section 24 of the Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizen Act, 2007, was registered at the Lodhi Colony police station, police said. Ranu was arrested but released on bail as the offence was bailable, said the officer.

The Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizen Act was brought by the Central government in view of cases of ill-treatment and abandoning of old parents by their children. The Act imposes various legal obligations on the children and heirs, who are also required to pay a monthly allowance to their old parents.