Aged, Abandoned man's plight draws Commission's attention
New Delhi, 28 October 2005
The National Human Rights Commission has taken suo-motu cognizance of a disturbing news item captioned "90-year-old abandoned by four sons" which appeared in a national daily on 28 October 2005.
The news item along with a photo reported that a 90-year-old man called Ram Chand has been lying abandoned at Mohali's Phase VI bus stop for over a month. Condemned to an insignificant corner for over a month, the newspaper stated that Ram Chand can barely gather the energy to recall or narrate his story and it is the nearby food and juice vendors who tell of his gradual decline. Under tremendous emotional and physical stress, Ram Chand has lost the capacity to walk and there are sores all over his legs, most probably caused by repeated falls, it stated. With nowhere to go and nothing to look forward to, the article reported he would well have perished had it not been for Ms. Parveen Sharma, a lady in the neighbourhood who has been feeding him regularly. The man, for his part, utters few words of which fewer are comprehensible. The references that stand out are "My house is located near a pole. I have four grown up sons who are very poor. They have no time to take care of me. I think I was destined to be served by Parveen alone. I can't contest God's will, but I hope he sends my sons back.
The Commission, on reading the news story observed if the contents of the report are true, it raise serious issue of violation of human rights of aged senior citizens.
It has directed that a copy of the newspaper report be forwarded to SSP and DM, District Ropar, Punjab to look into the matter, take appropriate action and submit a report to the Commission within two weeks.
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The news item along with a photo reported that a 90-year-old man called Ram Chand has been lying abandoned at Mohali's Phase VI bus stop for over a month. Condemned to an insignificant corner for over a month, the newspaper stated that Ram Chand can barely gather the energy to recall or narrate his story and it is the nearby food and juice vendors who tell of his gradual decline. Under tremendous emotional and physical stress, Ram Chand has lost the capacity to walk and there are sores all over his legs, most probably caused by repeated falls, it stated. With nowhere to go and nothing to look forward to, the article reported he would well have perished had it not been for Ms. Parveen Sharma, a lady in the neighbourhood who has been feeding him regularly. The man, for his part, utters few words of which fewer are comprehensible. The references that stand out are "My house is located near a pole. I have four grown up sons who are very poor. They have no time to take care of me. I think I was destined to be served by Parveen alone. I can't contest God's will, but I hope he sends my sons back.
The Commission, on reading the news story observed if the contents of the report are true, it raise serious issue of violation of human rights of aged senior citizens.
It has directed that a copy of the newspaper report be forwarded to SSP and DM, District Ropar, Punjab to look into the matter, take appropriate action and submit a report to the Commission within two weeks.
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