BENGALURU: While the number of cases of elderly abuse has been on the rise in the city and extensively reported earlier, the lockdown seems to have an adverse effect on seniors opening up. It is a concern that those who are suffering may be less inclined to report a crime or reach out for help as they have no choice but to live with the same members of the family during the lockdown, counsellors have observed.
The Nightingale Trust which runs a helpline for the elderly has seen just 7 out of the 325 calls reported for elder abuse, while a majority of them have been about guidance and support for COVID-19 and medical and healthcare. In normal circumstances, counsellors receive calls and even visits from the elderly. A counsellor told TNIE that the seniors usually called when they were alone at home and then visited the counselling centres.
These sort of conflict resolution measures are missing now, as the lockdown prevents the elderly from visiting the counselling centres. This has also reduced the number of complaints coming. Helplines are collaborating with the police and emergency services to reach out to the elderly, especially in the time when there is limited physical movement. As for women abuse, Rani Shetty from Parihar, which runs a helpline for women, said the counsellors have observed how the little disagreements have escalated into abuse -- mental, more than physical. Parihar alone has handled 106 cases of domestic violence ever since the lockdown, and 168 cases of COVID- related complaints which include lack of food or harassment by landlord or PG owners.
Disagreements are seen even when it comes to the elderly, agrees Dr Aruna of Nightingale Trust, who recently encountered a case of discord between a father-in-law and daughter-in-law. The first course of action is counselling, and then the police are approached in cases of mental harassment against women and the elderly. However, when it comes to physical harassment, Hoysala (police patrol) is pressed into action as a first recourse.
In the times of lockdown, finding a suitable alternative accommodation for women and elderly is hard to come by. For instance, officials of the women and child welfare department told TNIE that homes for the elderly are closed for new inmates. And there is no protocol in place as to how to deal with an elderly who needs relocation. Helplines are faced with a constraint – call-based complaints -- which may not allow further action that a physical complaint would provide. For instance, of the 106 cases of domestic violence that have come to Parihar, only one FIR has been lodged.
Despite these challenges, the helplines are working round- the- clock to attend to the complaints. They have handled 630 cases pertaining to the elderly which include mental and physical distress, and 402 cases pertaining to women which include physical and mental violence during the lockdown.