Protection of elders from torture by unruly sons!

By M.Y.Siddiqui

Consistent torture of a close journalist friend by his two unruly sons in cahoots with their mother, and his ultimate shifting to a senior citizens’ arbour recently, has prompted me to write this piece on remedies available to the elders in similar circumstances. To fight this dreaded menace, Indian laws protect old parents from unruly, abusive and neglectful sons through both civil and criminal frameworks. Key legislation like the Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act, 2007, allows seniors to claim monthly maintenance and seek eviction orders against harassing children.

The primary legal avenues for protecting old parents and managing unruly sons include maintenance, financial support, eviction and property rights, and protection from domestic violence, criminal complaints. Under the Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act, parents can file an application to a Maintenance Tribunal demanding monthly support. Adult unruly children who abandon or refuse to maintain their parents can face both fines and imprisonment. Through the Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act, parents can seek eviction of abusive or neglectful children from their self-acquired or ancestral homes to ensure their own peace and safety.

The Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005 protects elderly mothers against physical, mental, and financial abuse. It allows for restraining orders that prevent rogue son(s) from entering the home or harassing the parents. If the son(s) resort to physical assault, intimidation, or property destruction, parents can file a direct police complaint under the corresponding sections of the Bhartiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).

For criminal remedies under Indian Penal Code (IPC)/ Bhartiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNSS), if a son subjects parents to physical assault, criminal intimidation, or tortures them, parents can bypass the family tribunal and go straight to criminal law. Actionable step requires lodging a formal complaint or FIR at the nearest police station for offences like wrongful restraint, assault, or harassment. Similarly, children also do face cruelty and torture from toxic parents, especially toxic father. Penal action that involves fine or imprisonment or both is provided for in such cases.

Section 125 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC)/Section 144 BNSS allows parents who do not have financial means to support themselves to claim monthly financial allowances directly from their children (both sons and daughters) in family. Parents hold the absolute right to their self-acquired property. Parents are under no legal obligation to gift or transfer property to their children. If son(s) are unruly, parents can officially disinherit him (them) or legally evict him (them) from the house.

Some all India helpline telephone Nos. for people in distress requiring emergency help are: 14567, national helpline for senior citizens (also known as Elder line) available 8AM to 8PM to provide emotional support, guidance, and field interventions for elderly individuals or their caregivers, and for Child line 1098. Union Ministries of Home Affairs, Women and Child Development, National Commission for Women, National Commission for Protection of Child Rights, and National Human Rights Commission, and their counterparts in the states and union territories are there to act on complaints of citizens in distress.


For more precise guidance, the aggrieved elders or parents can consult a local legal professional (lawyer) to prepare case for redresses. The complaint will cover the broad category, whether the abuse is primarily physical, financial or emotional, the property self-acquired by the parents or ancestral, and requirements of parents or victims for immediate police protection or an eviction order!

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