Make son look after me, aged mother pleads with court

NEW DELHI - A 73-year-old woman in Delhi is battling it out in court with her son, pleading that she be looked after by him in her old age and be allowed to stay in the house where she lived with her husband.

Kamla Sharma, a resident of west Delhi, says her son refuses to share his life and flat on the grounds that he has to look after his ailing wife and daughter.

Additional Sessions Judge (ASJ) Nivedita Anil Sharma has transferred the case back to the metropolitan magistrate and upheld the order of the trial court, which had earlier directed the son to pay Rs.3,000 per month under the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act for the rented accommodation where his mother is currently living.

The woman has been staying in the rented accommodation since 2004.

Kamla, in her appeal to the additional sessions judge, said she should be permitted entry into the shared household and her elder son Anup Sharma should be directed to look after her and provide her care and medicines.

Her counsel contended, “She does not keep in good health and she should be served by her son in her old age. She was forcibly ousted after the death of her husband.

“Although she is getting pension, she wants to spend the remaining period of her life in the house where she has lived with her husband as well as her son.”

The family lives in the Janakpuri area.

The court said: “It is disheartening to see that the mother is begging to be near her son in her old age so that she can see him in her last days and the son is not willing to look after his aged mother, thereby may be denying her the biggest pleasure of her life - that is to be with her son when her end comes.”

However, the court refused to pass any order on the appeal filed by Kamla and said while it is painful to observe that a son is not willing to look after his aged mother, no order can be passed saying he should serve her in her old age and look after her.

“The emotion of serving his mother cannot be forced upon the son but it has to be a voluntary and willing act. Even if a legal direction is given to him regarding the same, it cannot be executed in totality as it cannot be implemented effectively,” said the court.

The mother also alleged before the court that she had suffered physical and verbal abuse, besides emotional and economic violence.

Anup says he does not want to go through the problems his mother creates at home. “My mother herself left the flat where we were living together and she cannot take advantage of her own mistake now,” he told reporters outside the courtroom.

He also denied being violent with his mother. “I and my family have never committed any kind of domestic violence upon her,” said Anup.

–Ino-Asian News Service