Abuse victims: State to ensure speedy justice for elderly persons

Kolkata: The state Women and Child Development (W &CD) and Social Welfare (SW) is planning to come up with a road map for ensuring elderly population can live with respect and dignity and get speedy justice in case of abuse.

“All stakeholders like the society, police, judiciary, NGOs and the state government that are working together for creating a congenial environment for the elderly should together come on board for such a road map,” said Shashi Panja, minister in-charge of W&CD and SW department at a seminar organised to observe the occasion of World Elder Abuse Awareness Day. She added that the purpose of the programme was to provide an opportunity for communities to arrive at a better understanding of abuses and negligence towards the elderly persons and to raise voice against such injustice.

Panja advocated that the police administration should properly implement the order of the tribunal where an elderly victim had moved to seek justice against such abuse.

“Elder abuse is a social problem and the police should deal with empathy,” Panja added. She touched upon the old age pension scheme of the state government in which persons above 60 years of age are being provided Rs 1,000 monthly.

Some aged women who have been subjected to abuse by their family members and have been staying at state run and private homes across the state shared their bitter experience of family life at the seminar.