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The Rediff Special/M D Riti

Once upon a time, people retired in peace to Bangalore. But the peaceful city that once went by the name of pensioner's paradise is no longer a safe place for the elderly, especially those living alone. The instances of break-ins and violent murders of elderly persons in the city have shot up, causing much anxiety among the city's seniors.

Sample the following:

* Keshava Murthy, 77, who, ironically, worked as a stenographer in the police commissioner's office, was killed on March 7 last in his home with an unusual weapon: nails.

* Mumtaz Begum, 60, who lived alone on the rent she collected from her tenants, was killed at 2 pm on April 26. The motive, say the police, was 'material gain'.

* Meena Rasquinha, 72, of Richmond Town, lived alone in a house. She had informed the neighbourhood police station that she was living alone and the police would patrol the street outside her house in the night. But that did not prevent an intruder from breaking into her house on May 26, 2001, at 11 pm and killing her by striking her with a blunt instrument.

* Murugeshan, 70, was a practising priest who earned about Rs 10,000 a month, and was fit and active. He lived with his children in a neighbourhood that was and is patrolled by both the local police and members of the locality. Yet, six or seven intruders entered his house and killed him a little before 11 pm on April 4, 1999. One of the killers was a young woman. "He was not careful about who he allowed into the house," laments a family member. "He was used to receiving a lot of visitors who wanted to talk to him about temple matters."

The Nightingales Medical Trust, an organisation that specialises in the care of the aged in Bangalore, estimates that about 15 per cent of metropolitan Bangalore's population of six million would now comprises the elderly.

Police statistics indicate that crimes against seniors have risen, but policemen insist there is little cause for alarm. In fact, they say the situation, after steady deterioration, is now improving. This year, till September 20, there have been eight murders and nine robberies of senior citizens as compared to last year's 16 murders and nine robberies. In 2000, eight seniors were killed and six were robbed; in 1999, there were six murders and six robberies; and in 1998, there were four murders and nine robberies.

The Indian Penal Code and other penal laws list crimes of all kinds including assault and murder, in general. But it does not make any special provision for crimes against the elderly. This is in sharp contrast to the Juvenile Justice Act, which has a special section providing for punishments for offences against children.

The Nightingales recently conducted a survey of the families of 18 senior citizens who were murdered or killed over the past three years in Bangalore, and came up with some alarming conclusions. They discovered, for instance, that 72 per cent of the murders had been for material gain. K S Mahadevan, who was retired and received a monthly pension of about Rs 5,000, was attacked by three unemployed men including his cable operator, and robbed of several electronic gadgets on October 20, 2001.

About 78 per cent lived in independent houses with either nil or poor security and without dogs. Half the murders took place in broad daylight. Intruders killed Manjula Jamkhandi, who lived in Basavanagudi with her husband, at 9 am on October 22, 2000. Her husband now regrets not having installed a grill on their front door.

The police point out that almost 50 per cent of the victims had displayed their wealth in some way or the other. And 60 per cent of those surveyed did not have any device for identifying visitors without opening the front door, thus making it easy for intruders to enter before the victims could call for help.

The survey further showed that about 30 per cent of the victims, like Jayalakshmiamma, who lived with her children and was murdered on October 30, 2000, had little contact with her neighbours.

Domestic staff can prove dangerous. A servant suffocated Avinash Rani Chaddha, 80, with a pillow on May 7 last. A majority of the victims had not checked the antecedents of the domestic staff they hired, something the police insist on. Most of those living alone had not taken the basic precaution of informing the local police station that they lived alone.

The Nightingales has now come up with a list of suggestions for Bangalore's senior citizens. The are: do not oil the hinges on your doors, screeching hinges can warn you about intruders; keep some lights on through the night; and try to have someone you trust live with you or at least within your compound.

The police too have moved into the act and installed a special telephone line linked to the city commissioner's office. Unfortunately, the help line has received only one call thus far: from a woman who was being threatened by a drunken man. A police patrol quickly sent him on his way.

What has transformed Bangalore from a safe haven for the elderly to an unsafe city? One, of course, is the massive population influx into the city from across the country, including unsavoury elements.

"A lot of elders now live alone in independent houses," points out Prem Kumar Raja, a trustee of Nightingales. "They are completely isolated and are sometimes cut off from the community around. Many tend to avoid neighbours, friends and relatives. Children nowadays mostly stay separately, and thus the elders rely on hired servants and caregivers. Then they keep money and valuables with them, some even feel that wearing jewels is a status symbol little realising that such display attracts criminals. If the elders do not change their outlook and lifestyle, they are liable to become easy targets of crime."

H Y Sharada Prasad, formerinformation advisor to the late Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and now a resident of Bangalore, said waiting for the police to do everything was not the right step. "It is not the government that has elderly parents but we. It is up to us to take the initiative in protecting them," he said.

Also see:
Fear over the cities
More reports from Karnataka

Image: Rahil Shaikh

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