Women’s panel visits her home; police complaint against her son, grandson

The Karnataka State Commission for Women came to the rescue of an 87-year-old widow, who was allegedly confined to the house and tortured by her son and grandson at Bogadi in Mysuru.

After receiving a complaint from the neighbours that Mangala Gowramma, was being beaten and subjected to various kinds of torture in confinement, the commission chairperson Nagalakshmi Bai, accompanied by police personnel, visited the house on Wednesday.

The commission not only extracted an assurance from her son, Krupashankar, 71, that he will look after his mother and meet all her needs, but also lodged a police complaint against him and Ms. Gowramma’s grandson, Sandeep, 35, who had allegedly beaten her.

Property issue

Ms. Bai said inquiries revealed that the victim was the owner of property estimated to be worth around ₹7.5 crore, including two houses in Bengaluru and two plots of farmland. However, under pressure from Krupashankar, she had transferred all her property to him. They were staying in a rented house at Prashanthnagar in Bogadi.

Though she was being tortured by her son and grandson during the last few years, their treatment worsened after she recently handed over some of her silver articles to her daughter, who stays in Chennai.

“She was even pushed out of the house one night, but following the intervention of the neighbours, she managed to get back inside. She had to borrow money from the maid for her sustenance,” Ms. Bai said.

“A diabetic, she was denied even her daily dose of medicine. She was kept incommunicado. The grandson had snatched her mobile phone from her and smashed it a few days ago,” she said.

Though Krupashankar, who had married three women, but had been separated from all of them, has promised to look after the mother, Ms. Bai said the commission had lodged a complaint against him as well, and sought the arrest of the grandson, who had allegedly beaten the old woman.

The commission has also directed the police to regularly check on the well-being of the woman and report to the commission.

Citing a recent Supreme Court order, Ms. Bai said the commission would stand by the widow in her legal battle to take back at least a portion of the property she had already bequeathed to his son.