Every second elderly person in Delhi faces harassment from children, family or tenants to give up control of the house and property he or she owns, a study by a leading NGO has revealed.

But most of them choose not to complain to police out of fear, according to the HelpAge India survey — possibly the first in India to track abuse faced by the elderly over property.

The study coincides with a recently passed central law under which children who abandon parents are liable to be put in jail.

“The study shows that property — far from being a source of security — can be a cause for harassment and abuse for the elderly, ” said Mathew Cherian, chief executive, HelpAge India .

The NGO interviewed 1,183 people above the age of 60, randomly selected from localities across Delhi , in the latter half of 2007. Fifty-two per cent said they had faced harassment or abuse — physical and emotional — from their children, family, tenants or landlords to vacate their home.

“Children harass their parents to sell and move to cheaper areas in order to fund their children’s lifestyle. There are also problems such as the harassment of elderly tenants by landlords seeking to evict them in order to increase rents,” the study report says.

Nearly half (49 per cent) of those harassed said they were victimised by their own children or a child’s spouse.

Five per cent — mainly men — said their spouses supported the children in pressuring them to sell off houses. The pressure from spouses was cited as a bigger “problem” than the abuse heaped by children in the report.

“The figures are shocking, but not surprising,” said Kalyan Bagchi, president of the Delhi-based Society for Gerontological Research, who has been working with the elderly for over two decades.

On December 29, 2007, the President gave her assent to the Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act, which punishes children who abandon parents with a prison term of three months. The children may also be asked to cough up Rs 5,000 as fine.

But three months later, no state has notified the act. So, it is not yet implemented anywhere in India , officials in the ministry of social justice and empowerment said.

“We have given all state governments six months to notify the act. They still have three months left,” an official said.

The study, however, shows that lack of trust in the police is a key reason why some elderly victims do not formally complain of abuse. In all, 44 per cent of those abused said they were afraid to report to the police. Other than police apathy, fear of retaliation and preserving family honour are the two reasons cited most by the elderly for not approaching the law enforcers.

The study suggests that senior citizens are often not allowed to spend their money the way they want, are isolated from friends and family and sometimes even suffer from malnutrition.

“But keeping them away from their grandchildren is one of the worst forms of harassment that elderly citizens report,” Nidhi Raj Kapoor of HelpAge India said.

More men (78 per cent) than women (21 per cent) agreed to be interviewed through a questionnaire. Respondents were given the option of not mentioning their sex. Only 1 per cent chose the option.

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