Passers-by find woman near Bandipalya; SOM calls up her son who assures to take her home

Mysuru: This news will surely shake your conscience.

At a time when the Union government is mulling to increase the amount that is to be paid to parents and senior citizens neglected or abandoned by their children, incidents where senior citizens are left to fend for themselves are increasing. One such incident was reported in city this morning.

Seventy-nine-year-old Chinnamma alias Chinnavva was abandoned by her daughter and grandson near Bandipalya. Chinnamma hails from Chamarajanagar and she was brought to Bandipalya at 6 am with two bags and a blanket. Some passers-by found her sleeping on the footpath resting her head on the bags. She was having high fever and was shivering with cold.

Seeing her plight, passers-by made her drink water and called up Star of Mysore office seeking help as they did not know her whereabouts. The woman told the people gathered around her that she had three children – two sons and a daughter – and they were not taking care of her.

With tears in her eyes and shivering with cold, Chinnamma said that her daughter Manjula had brought her to Mysuru from Chamarajanagar and early this morning, she was brought in a vehicle and abandoned at Bandipalya. “She told me to go and die,” Chinnamma said. When asked about her sons, she said that both of them had refused to take care of her. “They listen to their wives,” she said.

SOM managed to get the phone number of Chinnamma’s son Manjunath. He told SOM that he had a house near Chamarajanagar KSRTC Bus Stand and his father (Chinnamma’s husband) was a Shanubhog who had died 15 years back.

Initially, he said that he had one sister and only after much prodding, he revealed that they were two brothers and a sister. He, however, did not give out the name or details about his brother. “My sister Manjula who works as a document writer, lives near Ramakrishnanagar Circle and we are not in talking terms. Her son is doing his engineering. I was taking care of my mother in a rented room near my house in Chamarajanagar,” he said.

“Three days back, Manjula came to Chamarajanagar and vacated the place where my mother was staying and took her to Mysuru along with furniture and vessels that were used by my mother,” he said and added that he was not aware of the reason why Manjula had abandoned his mother by the side of a road.

Manjunath, a photographer by profession, told SOM that he would bring back his mother to Chamarajanagar and take care of her. “I will not go to my sister’s place and ask her the reason for abandoning my mother. I will come to Mysuru today itself and take my mother home,” he added.