The Bombay High Court has come to the aid of a 72-year-old city doctor and denied her son permission to enter her house after she alleged he regularly abused her.
A bench presided over by Justice SJ Kathawalla refused to allow a plea filed by the woman's son seeking access to the house.
"Prima facie, the plaintiff (the son) has no right over the house of the mother, and also can't claim any right or entry on the ground of dispossession, when the mother is seriously troubled over the problems created by him in the house," the bench said.
The bench was hearing the plea filed by the Mumbai resident seeking that he, his wife and their child be granted access to his mother's house in South Mumbai.
In the plea, he said he and his family used to stay with his mother, but she changed the locks of the house one day when they were out.
He alleged that his mother, by not letting him enter the flat, was wrongly dispossessing him of a property that he too had a share in.
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The mother, however, told the court that the flat belonged to her and her late husband.
She told the bench that her son had been abusing her emotionally and had also been subjecting her to physical assault for several years now.
The doctor alleged her son was doing so at the insistence of his wife.
She also told the court that while the son had been seeking psychiatric treatment for his behaviour, his actions towards her had remained unchanged.
So, one day, when her son, grandson, and daughter-in-law were all out, she had the locks changed to protect herself, she said, adding that she was "scared" of her son.
The woman also urged the court to direct the local police to help protect her from further abuse.
Justice Kathawalla directed the Malabar Hill police station to "render all assistance" to her and to ensure that she could reside in her own home without fear.
He also directed the son and his family to remove their belongings from the mother's flat.
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