Sagarika Ghose: Hi there, good evening, yes today is International Day of Older Persons and we're focusing tonight on a disturbing new study which says that one in three elderly persons in India is physically and verbally abused by their own children. The primary perpetrator of this abuse is the son. What explains the rise in abuse of elderly parents? Let's get you the findings of the study and then hear from our panelists. So on International Day for Older Persons, we're asking, why are the elderly being abused by their own children? Let's talk in the first part of the programme about why this is happening and in the second we'll talk about possible solutions. Joining us tonight, Mathew Cherian, CEO, HelpAge India, BR Sahani, Senior Citizen, Adab Singh Kapoor, Supreme Court lawyer, Akhila Sivadas, Director, Centre for Advocacy and Research, someone who is the part of the Pension Parishad which launched an agitation to ask for a universal pension for the poor elderly believing that self sufficiency is the way to guarantee dignity.
Let come to you MC, very horrific findings in this study that one in three elderly are abused by their own children. In 56 per cent cases the sons are the primary perpetrator. Why is this happening? What are the reasons for this?
Mathew Cherian: There are many reasons, one is the huge population explosion of the elderly. Today we have 100 million elderly. The census also say that the family size has
03:10 PM, Oct 02, 2012
