Guardians8217; for old amp; alone

MUMBAI, April 15: Alarmed by a series of murders involving senior citizens living alone in some of the most upmarket areas of the city, t...

MUMBAI, April 15: Alarmed by a series of murders involving senior citizens living alone in some of the most upmarket areas of the city, the Mumbai police has joined hands with Dignity Foundation, an NGO working with this age group, to launch a neighbourhood watch8217; project which puts the onus of protecting older people on their neighbours.

The brutal killings of Mickey Master at Tardeo, Professor Mehroo Jussawala at Malabar Hill, Laxmi Rani Roy in Chembur and Mehroo Sangha in Malabar Hill in a span of a few weeks have shocked the city out of its complacency towards aged. In all these cases, the victims were staying alone or were alone when they were attacked. The other common thread running through these cases was the involvement of servants and watchmen. Police believe that these incidents could have been prevented had the victims invested a little more in their security or had better communication with their neighbours.

The Dignity Foundation and the Mumbai police are now working on a plan wherein aguardian8217; will be nominated in each building where such soft targets8217; exist. The responsibility of these guardians8217; will be to oversee the security of the people assigned to them.

8220;The project involves mobilisation of over 700 volunteers who will be organised in fashion similar to the police force,8221; said Chief Executive Officer of Dignity Foundation, T C Narayan. The areas where the project will be implemented are: Malabar Hill and Gamdevi in south Mumbai, Bandra to Andheri in north-west Mumbai and Ghatkopar and Chembur on the eastern side. Volunteers of Dignity Foundation will select these guardians8217; from each building or housing society.

But that is not all. Cops and Dignity volunteers together will also hold counselling sessions in housing societies where office-bearers will be given lessons in the essentials of security. Intensive educational programmes to create awareness about safety precautions will also be undertaken by the police.

Police investigations have revealed that in a majority ofthe attacks on old residents, the culprits had easy access to the house. Such incidents can be greatly reduced if servants and watchmen were employed after proper screening and their identities were registered with the nearest police station, the cops believe. 8220;We have always advised verification of servants and strict access control mechanism. Yet our advice has gone unheeded,8221; said the deputy commissioner of police zone-II, Dr K Venkatesham.

His recent initiative to hold a meeting of society secretaries from Malabar Hill, Walkeshwar and Gamdevi to discuss security problems met with a tepid response. In fact in a recent robbery at Malabar Hill, the watch man saw the robbers going up and then coming down with the booty. But he never bothered to questioned them assuming that they were visitors. 8220;Lakhs of rupees are spent on buying and maintaining a house, but hardly any attention is paid to personal safety and security,8221; Venktaesham complained.

Story continues below this ad

The Dignity Foundation also plans to setup a helplinefor the senior citizens. To centralize the counselling and educational activities, the helpline will have a focal point at the city commissionerate.