HYDERABAD: In a huge relief to an aged couple, the Telangana High Court on Thursday directed the Hyderabad Police to provide protection to them from their son and daughter-in-law, and to restore possession of their property immediately. The court also expressed displeasure with the police for not registering the petitioners’ complaint against their son and daughter-in-law, who threw them out of their house.
Justice A Rajasheker Reddy passed this order on a petition filed by PJ Girija Shanker, 69, and his wife, residents of Secunderabad. They complained of police inaction, saying their lives and property were not protected as per the Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act, 2007, and the Telangana State Maintenance of Parents and Senior Citizens Rules, 2011.
The petitioners’ counsel said the petitioners’ son Manoj and daughter-in-law Deepika threw them out of their property and abandoned them.
The petitioners’ counsel said that for the last five years, Girija Shanker and his wife were harassed by their son Manoj and daughter-in-law Deepika, who were pressurising them to transfer ownership of the house. When the elderly couple refused, Manoj and Deepika reportedly resorted to physical torture by throwing household articles, including knives, at them, putting their lives in danger.
A complaint was lodged with the police in February last year, seeking for possession of the house to be restored by evicting Manoj and Deepika, but the police didn’t register a case under the said Act, the counsel told the court.
He added that a division bench of the same HC recently upheld the order of a single judge, who directed the police to act on a complaint of a 59-year-old woman against her son and daughter-in-law seeking for her property to be restored.
The court had expressed concern at the state of moral values, particularly young couples who are indifferent towards their parents and in-laws, he added.
When there was no proper response from the government counsel, the judge, while relying on the division bench’s recent judgment, directed the police to provide protection to the two senior citizens and to restore possession of their property.
The judge directed the government counsel to submit a report before the court, and adjourned the case hearing to next week.