New Delhi, Oct 1: A large percentage of India's elderly face abuse from their sons, rather than daughters-in-law, with financial dependence being one of the main reasons for neglect and abuse. While the government gives a paltry monthly pension of Rs.200 to those over 60 years in BPL families, social activists are fighting for raising this to Rs.2,000 a month for all the elderly, irrespective of economic background.
A survey conducted by HelpAge India on elder abuse indicates that the elderly suffer abuse silently - mostly at the hands of their sons.
"There is a common belief that only daughters-in-law abuse elders. On the contrary, 56 percent of those surveyed felt it was their sons who abuse them; daughters-in-law scored as low as 23 percent," Mathew Cherian, chief executive of HelpAge India, told IANS.
Over 44 percent of the elderly said disrespect was the most common form of abuse, while 30 percent said it was neglect and 26 percent said verbal abuse was very common.
The report is based on a survey across 20 major cities, with a sample size of 5,600 and 280 elders per city.
Only a few of the elderly were willing to accept they faced abuse in some form while others chose to keep mum for the sake of family honour.
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