india

Updated: Aug 02, 2019 02:44 IST

Upset over the treatment meted out to him by his son and daughter-in-law, a former journalist of Odisha has written to the State government expressing his wish to give away all his properties to the State.

75-year-old Khetramohan Mishra, who worked as a local correspondent for Hindi newspaper Deendayal Mail and Odia newspaper Orissa Times in Jajpur district for over 30 years, met the district collector on Tuesday with a written application to will away his properties.

Mishra, who lives with his nephew in his native village of Muraripur in Dasrathpur block of Jajpur district for the last 3 years, told District Collector Ranjan Das that he wanted an old-age-home built on the land he wanted to donate to the government.

“I am eligible for at least one acre of land out of more than three acres jointly owned by me and my brothers in the village. I request the government to build an old age home over it,” Mishra told the DC.

Mishra said his only son and daughter-in-law had made several attempts to kill him, while spelling out the reasons for disentitling them.

“I don’t want my only son Suryamani Mishra to get anything from it. He and his wife have made my life hell for the last 30 years. They have made several attempts to kill me,” he said.

Mishra, who gets Rs 500 as old age pension, has also requested to be shifted to an old-age home till his death as there’s “nobody” to look after him. Mishra said his wife “could stay” with his son.

Jajpur District Collector Das said though he was disturbed by the complaint, he will try to get the will registered so that the government can take his share of property.

“Though his son should care for Mishra’s wellbeing, we don’t want to get into the family dispute. I have spoken to an NGO for keeping Mishra in their shelter home,” said Das.

The collector said Mishra also requested that his body be not handed over to his son for cremation but handed over to a medical college for study purposes instead.

Mishra’s son was not available for comment. But his daughter-in-law Arati Mishra denied the allegations. “We have never ill-treated him. It is he, who refuses to touch any food sent by us,” she said, adding that Mishra had also “severed relationship with his wife” and her mother-in-law.

Atis Mohanty, who runs an NGO called Bou Foundation that cares for elderly persons, said the incident reflected the growing trend of children ill-treating their parents. “We are going to keep him in our day care home. The unfortunate case is a sign of things to come in future,” he said.

Odisha has about 40 lakh senior citizens constituting 9.5 per cent of its population; 86 per cent elderly people live in rural areas.

In 2009, the state government came out with Orissa Maintenance of Parents and Senior Citizens Rules, under which sons and daughters ill-treating their parents have to pay a maximum of Rs 10,000 a month. In 2016, Odisha government had come out with a policy for senior citizens emphasising on their health, financial security, physical safety, welfare, and psychological needs.