With no one to turn to, many lead lives of desperation

The judge sent her to the Institute of Human Behaviour and Allied Sciences, where the senior psychiatrist’s report said she was pregnant. The doctors sought to terminate her pregnancy under the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, 1971 reasoning that “she had a record of poor social support and that the legitimacy of the child was doubtful”.

The judge, however, ruled that these reasons were not sufficient to have the pregnancy terminated, and that since it was in an advanced stage abortion was not advisable. The judge said that Revathii had the right to deliver her baby.

She is now in the Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital, after a March 9 court order which also directed a board of doctors to look after her. The hospital authorities informed the court that a couple came to see her there once, but there has been no news of them since. Hence it is unlikely that they will look after the baby.

Eighty-year-old Kamala Devi Banerjee travelled 1,500 km by truck from Calcutta to be with her daughter Sandhya Banerjee and grand-daughter Chandralekha Mukherjee. Kamala arrived at their Noida residence on the night of March 12, but — for personal reasons — they refused to give her a home. She camped outside a police station where the Uttar Pradesh police cleared out a room in which she lived for a week.

Kamala was moved into Anand Niketan Vridh Seva Ashram, an old age home in Noida, on March 23 on an experimental basis, but she ran away from there on March 30. Brigadier Bali of the ashram says: “She was a problem lady, she was a little abnormal. But, she was more keen to go, rather than we keen to send her. She would create problems in the kitchen and dining room, and fight with the security guard. All this made other inmates insecure, as the atmosphere was not conducive to the peace and quiet of an old age home.”

Two women stare blankly at the whirlpool of events surrounding them, probably not even comprehending the decisions that are being taken on their future.

What is the role of the state in both cases? Constitutional experts say there is none. Former Additional Solicitor General Dr Abhishek Manu Singhvi says: “There is no legal position as such in the Constitution. While there are certain provisions in the Directive Principles of State Policy, these are not enforceable in a court of law. There is no comprehensive state position.”

In the absence of a legal position, various non-governmental organisations sometimes step in. In Revathii’s case, the chairman of the Servant of God Missionary, H.S.G. Abraham, has offered to look after the baby.

Bali said that two weeks ago representatives of the National Commission for Women (NCW) took Kamala to the Vidya Sagar Institute of Mental Health and Sciences (VIMHANS).

She has been diagnosed a schizophrenic. She may be transferred to an institution in Shahdara for further treatment.

Interestingly, Bali also said that Kamala’s daughter has filed a petition in a Ghaziabad court so that she is not forced to keep her mother and also that a restraining order be issued against Kamala.

In both cases, Singhvi says that the problem is economic — that of competing resources — and that is where the solution lies. “There are overwhelming demands amidst competing resources. There is no social security system in India, and even in the UK and USA where there is social security, there is a problem.”

Speaking specifically about Kamala’s case, Singhvi says: “There are no provisions here for a graceful aging process, geriatrics receives very little care in India.” He explains that the state can’t step in in a big way because a choice has to be made between where resources must be allocated. “Old age gets the least priority. It is also assumed in India that every old person has someone to fall back on,” added Singhvi.

The law provides marginal relief for the aged. Section 125 of the Code of Criminal Procedure is the order for maintenance of wives, children and parents. Part 1 (d) states: “If any person having sufficient means neglects or refuses to maintain his father or mother who is unable to maintain himself or herself then a first class magistrate can order him to give a monthly maintenance allowance, not exceeding Rs 500.”

However, an advocate explains, “There is no liabilty for a daughter.

Section 125 specifically mentions the word his, meaning only the son. It is a reflection of the Hindu concept, that after marriage the daughter becomes part of another family. But the law must change and be modified with the dramatically evolving and dynamic social scenario.”

With no legal recourse and armed with state policies that promise much but deliver little, the two women continue to lead lives of quiet desperation.