IPS officer initiates short film on elderly

Concerned over the increasing instances of elderly people, especially mothers, being abandoned at the temple town of Guruvayur in Thrissur district of central Kerala, the Kerala police is bringing out a short-film to create awareness against this evil tendency.

Thrissur city police commissioner Yathish Chandra, who has been in the news for various bold reasons including the argument with Union Minister Pon Radhakrishnan at Nilakkal in Sabarimala recently, will be making the short film. The IPS officer, who hails from Davangere district in Karnataka, himself has written the story and screenplay for the 10-minute film titled ‘Nallamma’ (Good mother).

Chandra told DH that the aim of the short-film is to create awareness among the people on the need to protect the elderly. The police also decided to take stringent action against those abandoning aged parents, which has been quite prevalent in areas like Guruvayur, he said.

Police sources said that on an average close to 100 elderly people, especially mothers, are abandoned at Guruvayur annually. Though the police used to initiate legal action against the children, many mothers would object to it as they didn't want their children to be in the soup. While the police reunited many with their families, many were taken care of by nearby shelter homes.

Santo Thattil, a senior city police officer who made many short films for the police department, is directing ‘Nallamma’. It is based on the story of a 75-year-old mother being abandoned by her six children. It creates awareness about the legal actions that the children would invite for abandoning their parents.

The short film will be ready in a month or two and would be spread through social media as well as the Kerala Government’s Public Relations Department.