DCW rescues elderly woman abandoned by her daughter

The Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) rescued an elderly woman allegedly abandoned by her daughter, an officer of the Delhi Police, the panel said on Tuesday.

It was during the rescue operation that DCW chief Swati Maliwal's phone was snatched but was later recovered and the accused arrested, it said.

The panel said the elderly woman was "left to die" on the streets by her daughter, who is a Delhi Police officer.

The DCW officials were informed about the old woman by a local on Monday.

The complainants met the members of the commission and showed them "videos of the atrocities" inflicted on the aged lady, the panel said.

 

Maliwal, along with DCW members Kiran Negi and Promila Gupta, reached the spot.

The team found the woman "lying in her own excreta" on the side of a street in front of her house, the panel said.

She had deep scars, injuries, fractures and clots on her body and was shivering profusely, it said.

The locals informed that she had been living there alongside the road for the last six months and her daughter had abandoned her, it added.

"There were marks of severe assault on her body. The DCW team alerted the local police and the woman was rushed to the Lady Hardinge Hospital's emergency," the panel claimed.

The doctors have detected third grade bed sores all over her body and said the elderly woman also had hypothermia and was shivering when she had reached the hospital, it said.

There were severe injuries and stitches on her head and bandages on her legs, they claimed. On asking, she informed the Commission that she was beaten by her own daughter, the DCW said.

Maliwal met the woman at the hospital on Tuesday, where a team of the Commission and the Delhi Police is looking after the old woman, it said.

The doctors at the hospital told DCW chief that the woman is in a critical condition and may not survive, it added.

"She is malnourished, severely injured and has extreme bed sores on her body which have made her condition even worse. There is an infection in her lungs as well," the DCW said.

Meanwhile, police said they have received a complaint in the matter and are inquiring into it.

The DCW urged the Delhi Police to take strongest action against the daughter of the old woman for "assaulting and abandoning" her.

Maliwal said, "It is so unfortunate that an old woman has been abandoned and forced to live in such a pitiable condition by her own daughter.

"The fact that the daughter works in police is even more disturbing. Delhi Police must register an FIR in the matter and take action against the daughter. We are there for the old woman and shall look after her and rehabilitate her.