The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh News : Home alone elders easy prey for criminals

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, May 06, 2005

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

Home alone elders easy prey for criminals

Marri Ramu

Servants turn out to be the culprits in several cases

HYDERABAD: The killing of three senior citizens in different parts of the twin cities in the last four months is a chilling reminder of how the aged living alone are becoming easy prey to offenders.

While one of the victims, Shakuntala, 57, killed in Neredmet two days ago was alone at home as her husband went out for shopping, the other two septuagenarians, Subbaraya Shetti in Chikkadpally and Ali Mirza of Khairabad, had no one to depend on and were living by themselves.

These recent sensational cases apart, there have been many incidents where the elderly, living alone even for a brief period, have become sitting ducks. Being alone for five hours in her flat proved fatal for Shakuntala. With no signs of forcible entry on the front doors and struggle marks in the front room, police suspect involvement of persons familiar to the victim in the killing.

Check credentials

Incidentally, killers in similar cases turned out to be servants of the victims. The double murder of a businessman and his driver in Nasr Apartments in the heart of Hyderabad and that of Ali Mirza are classic examples. "Hence, verifying the credentials of domestic hands in apartment buildings is a must for preventing such assaults on the elderly," a police officer says.

Involvement of a watchman in the planning and execution of an attack on a lonely couple living in an apartment in Karkhana a couple of years ago and the recent Ali Mirza murder added strength to this theory. "Though it appears to be encroaching on privacy, elderly people should be selective in allowing people to come inside the houses," the police caution.

Extra caution

When other members of the family are away, the elderly must open the door only after confirming the identity of strangers is another suggestion from the cops. Keeping a chain between the door and the frame or small glass on the door to see through would be of some help, they say. Watchmen at the high-rise buildings must be instructed to be careful while allowing visitors to the flats of lonely elders.

"They must make doubly sure that no suspicious characters are moving around such apartments," officials emphasised. A little care by the neighbours to drop in once in a while to find out how the senior citizens next door are doing would be doing yeoman service to the community as a whole, the Cyberabad Police Commissioner, M. Mahender Reddy, felt.

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