24 January,2019 05:30 PM IST | Mumbai | Samiullah Khan
Video grabs of the footage of the alleged abuse
Meant to uphold the dignity of the elderly, an old age home has been allegedly doing exactly the opposite. A video of an elderly woman being beaten up in an old age home has gone viral on social media and a member of the Aam Aadmi Party, who had received it, immediately tweeted to the Thane Rural District Police attaching the video and demanding action. Rajeev Singh, joint secretary, Thane region, AAP youth wing, also called up the local police on receiving the video but did not get any response and therefore began campaigning to garner public support against the inhuman act.
More than 12,000 people have seen the video so far and around 450 have shared it on their social media pages but no action has been taken against the accused or the old age home yet. Singh is thus trying to create awareness about the incident and urging people to become alert citizens and report such incidents. The video was allegedly recorded at the Aadhar Old Age home situated in Mira Road by a person residing in the neighbouring building earlier this week. He then sent it to a member of the Aam Aadmi Party.
'No one complained'
"We have sent PSI Deepak Dhanwate to the old age home in Mira gaon and an inquiry has revealed that 13 senior citizens (eight women and five men) in the age group of 70 to 90 reside here. Three caretakers also live with them. We spoke to every senior citizen here but no one complained about anything," senior inspector Vaibhav Shingare from Kashimira police station said. "If we find anything during further investigation, we will act according to the law," he added.
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The old age home which was shifted to Mira gaon from Shital Nagar five years ago also hosts a retired female PSI of Maharashtra Police aged around 84 years."I received the video two days ago from an acquaintance and spoke to my party members about it. We have decided to stand above cast, creed, party and politics, and against such elements of society," said Rajeev Singh, joint secretary, Thane region, AAP youth wing.
"We will personally visit any old age home accused of such behaviour in the future and ensure that the culprits are punished. We appeal to citizens to raise their voices against such evils and contact our party volunteers if needed," he added. "This is inhuman. The person behind the act must be punished and the licence of the old age home should be cancelled by the government," said Pradeep Dubey, another AAP party worker.Dr Ashok Desai, who owns the old age home, did not respond despite repeated attempts to reach him.
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