A 68-year old woman in Kerala’s Kollam was allegedly subjected to brutal torture at the hands of her daughter-in-law, as her son watched in complacency. The torture was allegedly carried out by her son Vinesh’s wife Priya at the couple’s rented house near Kottiyam in Kollam district. It was after the victim Nalini’s brother Purushothaman Nair, who lives at Eroor in Ernakulam, visited the house earlier this month that the alleged elder abuse came to light.
Soon after coming to know of the torture she has been undergoing, Purushothaman shifted Nalini from the house and admitted her to a hospital in Ernakulam. He also filed a complaint at the Hill Palace Station in Tripunithura on Tuesday, October 18. A case was registered on Wednesday, and the First Information Report (FIR) subsequently filed by the police stated that Nalini was assaulted multiple times between August 2019 and October 16 this year. The police have invoked charges under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) against Priya, in addition to Section 24 of the Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act against Vinesh.
The FIR also stated that the torture was unleashed with the aim of killing Nalini. Priya had even beaten her with a hitherto unidentified object, which caused Nalini to lose her eyesight, besides inflicting various other injuries and burns on her body. According to the statement of Purushothaman, Vinesh had not taken Nalini to a hospital despite knowing about the torture she had undergone.
“I brought my sister to my house that day. She was later admitted to a hospital here. My sister told me that she lost her eyesight after Priya hit her with some object. She also told me that she was not even allowed to use the toilet at that house, because of which she could not eat,” Purushothaman has stated in the FIR. Nalini was also reportedly made to do most of the household chores, including cleaning toilets. She was not even allowed to enter the house during the day time, the statement said.
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