In a shocking case of human cruelty, a 95-year-old woman was allegedly starved and kept confined to a toilet in her house for a fortnight by her son in the Salem district.
Luckily, the woman's feeble cries for help were heard by the neighbours, who alerted the district authorities and she was rescued on Sunday, police said. The woman, a mother of four, was taken to an NGO for the old, where she was provided food and is undergoing treatment, they said.
On receiving a complaint that the nonagenarian was forcibly locked up in a toilet by her son, a team of officials from the Social Welfare department and the police reached the flat in Dalmia Board locality at Omalur and found her lying in an unhygienic condition in the reeking toilet.
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The woman, identified as Radha, reportedly survived on running water in the small toilet as her son refused to care for her.
Radha was living off the pension of her late husband which was swindled by her youngest son, police said.
Despite being subjected to such inhumane treatment, the woman declined to file a complaint against her son, they added.
Published 08 June 2021, 12:24 IST