CENTRE NO. IN528, CANDIDATE NO. 0017, 0457, component 2, changing communities.

CHANGING COMMUNITY:

WHAT KIND OF RIPPLE EFFECT DOES ABANDONING

THE AGED POPULATION HAVE ON THE REST OF THE
COMMUNITY

BY: VAISHNAVI
PILLY
CENTRE NO. IN528, CANDIDATE NO. 0017, 0457, component 2, changing communities.

In any society the elderly are usually the most experienced in life and have a major role in the
community, they take care of their family and are the ideal mentors, but are sometimes seen
as impractical due to their state of being antiquated.

As we all know the main reason behind old women being weak cause decades ago women
would give birth to an average of 9 babies, as even my great-grandma gave birth to 12 kids.
But now, the fertility rate is constantly reducing, as many women are willing to have fewer
babies, in 1950 average
rate for women having
kids was 4.7 but now it
drastically reduced to 2.7.
Due to this, the population
of the elderly is constantly
increasing replacing and
changing the structure of
the accepted population
pyramid. There could be
many reasons behind such
an occurrence. Most of
these senior citizens often
face difficulties. They are
either treated as
purposeless or abandoned
or killed by their family
members. Abandonment of
the elderly is when older
people who need care are
1
deserted by those responsible for them. This issue must be globally known, as the torture of
the elderly is irresistible. They are forced to go to old age homes or are left on roads to fend
for themselves. In the worst scenarios, these old people end up begging on the streets without
shelter and basic needs. They are also threatened and abused because of disturbances in the
family. This can have a bad effect on the mental health of older people. As the aging
population is rapidly increasing there is a high chance that even the rate of abuse towards
older people will increase.
2

The core reasons for abandoning the elderly are for property distribution in the family and
because the older people are financially dependent on their kids.
In many instances, the elderly are abandoned because they are seen as a burden and futile to
spend money on.

1 Temme Laura. “Background on Elder Abandonment.” FindLaw, 27 October 2022

2 Girodat, Jayne. “Are You Aware of Elder Abuse?” AgeSpan, 15 June 2020
CENTRE NO. IN528, CANDIDATE NO. 0017, 0457, component 2, changing communities.

Old age homes are introduced to stabilize the mental health of the elderly as they can spend
some time with peers of the same age group.
They are also necessary as they monitor them and help families who are financially unstable
and cannot take proper care of the elderly. Some of the older people in the old age homes can
get cast away from their families and can be emotionally hurt.

Older citizens also affect economic growth, working patterns, and retirement. By abandoning
them, we might also lose the importance of our cultural values and traditions. We might also
forget our core languages as the older people are the ones who pass on the cultures to the
upcoming generations. The population of the elderly is high, mostly in rural areas and this is
due to the migration of youngsters for a better standard of living.
The rate of parents being abandoned is still raising even though the maintenance and welfare
of parents and senior citizens act 2007 still exists. In 2017, nearly 15.7% of reported cases
were of abuse of older
people in community
settings and it has
increased during covid
19 pandemic. This can
affect the mental health
of the elderly.
Approximately 60% of
people over 60 years
suffer from mental
disorders.

Many more senior

people in asylums have
no hope for their family
members as most of
them won’t visit them
regularly and some
would just pay a visit for formality. In the worst situations, the family members would pay a
visit just to take the pension money from the older people. Some families don’t even visit
when the older one dies and the death formalities would be carried on by the old age home
members.

It is disheartening how some older people still have hopes for their family members even
after the deadly consequences. An old lady from an ashram stated in form of a song “oh little
angel! I have a bond with you, such are heart’s attachments, oh little angel, my eyes long to
see you every moment, I have no idea why I love you so much.”3 (“behind closed doors”).

3 The Quint, behind closed doors India’s elderly are abused and neglected, 21 July 2016
CENTRE NO. IN528, CANDIDATE NO. 0017, 0457, component 2, changing communities.

Some cases also include senicide by their family members, in a few districts of Tamil Nadu
there’s a ritual called “thalaikoothal”. ‘Thalai’ means head and ‘koothal’ means giving a bath,
the kids give an oil bath to the older one, mainly in the dawn, and make them drink glasses of
tender coconut water as it lowers the body temperature which leads to high fever, fits, and
eventually death. Some methods also include “milk therapy” where they make the older one
drink cow milk by plugging their nose. Though it is illegal in India, This was seen as
prevalent in a few villages of Tamil Nadu and none of these cases were reported to the police.
This ritual was ubiquitous that the family members would invite their relatives before
performing the ritual. But, now, due to strict laws, this practice is done secretly, although
everyone claims that they’ve banned it.

Mahender Kaur, an 80-year-old senior citizen was abandoned by her two sons, she was found
in a pit and was rescued on 14 august. She was in a serious condition and maggots were
found crawling on her head. She died after two days she was rescued. Kaur had two sons who
were leading a very good life. Rajender Singh a politician, who lives just 5 kilometers away
from the spot where his mother was rescued, stated that he left his mother three decades ago.
Balwinder Singh, who works in the excise department, told that he had handed over his
mother to a caretaker. The Punjab state commission for women summoned her sons who
gave absurd statements to the chairwoman, Manisha Gulati. The women’s commission
charged criminal cases against them both.
( Manjeet Sehgal)

Nowadays, most families are entrusting their older ones to caregivers and nurses. But are we
sure, the caregivers are taking care of them? There is a difference between age relating
bruises and bruises from abuse. Many caregivers don’t report it, in fact, many cases of abuse
of the elderly are related to
caregivers. 91% of
caregivers lack the
appropriate staff to properly
care for the elderly. Older
people have poor memory
and can not remember when
they were injured or when
they were hit by someone.
They cannot fight back or
raise their voice as they are
fragile and frightened.

There was an incident when a caregiver slapped, 89-year-old Evalyn Hall. Another caregiver,
Campbell who recorded the video stated that “At first, I’m thinking she trying to detain her,
but after I kept watching, and she hit her and banged her head against the wall, I was like,
CENTRE NO. IN528, CANDIDATE NO. 0017, 0457, component 2, changing communities.

“This is too much,”4 she decided to record the incident as she was feared that the facility
would cover up the incident. Campbell wanted to show the video to Hall’s daughter and let
her know what exactly is happening there. As Hall was the only witness and was suffering
from Alzheimer’s, her statement would not be reliable. When Hall’s daughter watched the
video, where Hall was pushed against a wall and was pulled down the wheelchair as she was
grabbed by her hair. Francis Vaughn, Hall’s daughter was devastated “I cried because it was
horrible, When you sit there and look at it, it’s awful.”5 Vaughn said. According to an
investigation by the Georgia department of community health on June 21, the facility tried to
hide the incident under the rug and not report it to state law officials. Vaughn learned about
this incident when she visited her mom and met Campbell. Vaughn then asked Hall about it,
and Hall explained the whole situation in detail. Vaughn then confronted the facility director
and fought for justice. Smith, the caregiver who abused Hall was arrested by the Savannah
police 50 days after the incident occurred. (Pierrotti)

Older people are the actual voters and they should be economically secure. To overcome
these deadly atrocities committed by their children, older people shouldn’t stay quiet, they
should be financially independent. Older people shouldn’t name their properties after their
children until their death so that they can be treated well at least for the sake of the properties.

As mentioned above, senior citizens should be both physically and mentally fit to avoid
diseases. According to research, a companion in life is one of the foremost roles that avoids
any kind of mental diseases, a companion keeps away the loneliness that causes these
diseases and can also help the elderly stay mentally strong. Daycare centers for the elderly
can be introduced where they can do yoga and other extracurricular activities. They can also
learn new things from new generations so that they will not disassociate from the gen-z. these
kinds of daycare centers can help older people to stay happy and knowledgeable.

The elderly should have a valuable role in the community. There can be daycare institutes for
the elderly and the kids together so that the older people can be kept busy taking care of the
kids whereas the parents can be busy working. A combination of Old age homes and kid’s
hostels should also be introduced, where the older people can feel more worthwhile, as they
can teach the students and take care of them.

These types of daycare systems exist but are not very famous and are not available in many
places. I would like to conclude by stating a quote by Garry Daivd Currie “being abandoned
or given up is the most devastating emotion we can cause in other human beings”.
Abandoning the elderly can affect their mental state, though there are old age homes to cheer
them up, the older people are still related by blood or graceful memories, and abandoning
them can dishearten them.

4 11Alive, Andy Pierrotti, Caregiver claims she was punished for video recording alleged abuse of
Alzheimer's resident, 10 November 2021

5 11Alive, Andy Pierrotti, Caregiver claims she was punished for video recording alleged abuse of
Alzheimer's resident, 10 November 2021
CENTRE NO. IN528, CANDIDATE NO. 0017, 0457, component 2, changing communities.

BIBLIOGRAPHY:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G22Up6JogqQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQ6Zuxrt8xg
https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/mental-health-of-older-
adults
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thalaikoothal
https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/tragic-tales-cases-of-elderly-abuse-
surface-in-punjab-haryana-in-times-of-covid-1714723-2020-08-25
https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Hyderabad/abandoning-of-the-elderly-
worrisome-v-p/article25626907.ece
https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/abuse-of-older-people
https://paulinaflores11.wixsite.com/elderly-abandonment/home
https://www.bbc.com/news/health-53409521
https://www.bbc.com/news/health-53409521

Works Cited

“behind closed doors.” 2016. India's elderly are abused and neglected,

created by the Quint, the quint, 21 July 2016,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQ6Zuxrt8xg.

Girodat, Jayne. “Are You Aware of Elder Abuse?” AgeSpan, 15 June

2020, https://agespan.org/2020/06/15/are-you-aware-of-elder-abuse/.

Accessed 4 February 2023.

Pierrotti, Andy. “Video shows alleged alzheimer's resident abuse at

assisted living.” 11Alive, 10 November 2021,

https://www.11alive.com/article/news/investigations/the-reveal/video-

alleged-alzheimer-resident-abuse/85-f976223d-8db1-46a0-a569-

4c200311224c. Accessed 25 December 2022.

CENTRE NO. IN528, CANDIDATE NO. 0017, 0457, component 2, changing communities.

sehgal, Manjeet. “India today.” tragic tales:Cases of elderly abuse

surface in Punjab, Haryana in times of Covid [chandigarh], 25 august

2020, https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/tragic-tales-cases-of-elderly-

abuse-surface-in-punjab-haryana-in-times-of-covid-1714723-2020-08-25.

Temme, laura. “Background on Elder Abandonment.” FindLaw, 27

October 2022, https://www.findlaw.com/elder/elder-abuse/elder-

abandonment.html. Accessed 4 February 2023.

----------------------------------------THANK YOU----------------------------------------