Bhubaneswar leads in elderly abuse? National Report on Elder Abuse says so

Bhubaneswar:  Smart city Bhubaneswar leads the country when it comes to disrespecting elders, revealed the National Report on Elder Abuse -2018 released last week .

As many as 82 % elders in the city feel that they are “disrespected,” the survey revealed. The capital city came second in “prevalence of elder abuse in the society”. A good 87% respondents from Bhubaneswar who took part in the national survey admitted, “yes it happens”.

While 23% of the elderly population reported some or other form of abuse, a disturbing 22 percent revealed that they were beaten and slapped. Similarly, 29 percent of the elderly admitted having faced verbal abuse while 31 percent revealed economic exploitation and 29 percent complained of neglect.

Interestingly the son has turned out to be the foremost perpetrator of the abuse, followed by the daughter-in-law -normally perceived as the primary abuser, the report further states.

As per the reports, the main abusers were son in 52% cases, and daughter-in-law  in 34% cases. The survey covered a total of  23 Tier 1 & Tier 2 cities and  aimed at understanding the extent, depth, form, frequency and reasons behind elders’ abuse.

At Bhubaneswar the survey report was released by P.K. Patnaik –Dean (SOA University), Ambika Prasad Nanda – Head CSR (Tata Steel), Imtiaz Ahmed – Mission Head Agecare (HelpAge India) and Bharati Chakra – State Head (HelpAge India) .

“Unfortunately, elders’ abuse starts at home and from people they trust the most.  The report is an eye opener to what the elderly face on day to day basis. Chakra said adding that severe cases of elderly abuse have been reported in the state in the past one week .

Not surprising, during the time this report is being filed, a case of elderly abuse has come in as a shock.  An elderly man died after being attacked by his son with an iron rod over property dispute at Samarjhol village under Hinjilikatu thana in Ganjam.

Earlier, on June 15, OTV had also reported how an elderly couple was beaten to death by their son in Barapadar village in Angul while trying to stop him from attacking his wife. In another incident, a man was allegedly shot dead by his inebriated son at Shrungipala village under Kundheigola police limits in Deogarh district.

Earlier, several incidents related to violence on elderly grabbed headlines after videos of such acts went viral in social media. A man was seen kicking and hitting his old mother with a wooden plank  in Balasore while another video showing a woman thrashing and dragging her mother-in-law on road in Bhadrak had also gone viral recently.