LEGAL REPORTER
An 86-year-old woman has moved the high court seeking protection against one of her sons and his wife so she could take her “last breath” in the home her husband had built and “willed” to her.
Monika Adhikari has alleged in her petition that her second son Amal and his wife drove her out of the three-storeyed Belgachhia house two years ago. She has been staying in a rented apartment in Kasba since.
Adhikari had lodged a complaint against Amal with Ultadanga police station in 2008 but cops are yet to take any action.
“The Domestic Violence Act, 2005, states that the police must take immediate action to give relief to a distressed women. Why have the police not acted in this case?” Justice Jayanta Biswas wondered, before directing Ultadanga police station to file an affidavit stating steps it had taken to restore the petitioner’s rights.
The matter will be heard again on December 7.
Adhikari had also moved the Sealdah court after being evicted from the house but her petition hasn’t been heard even once. “Several dates were given but the court did not hear the case,” said Supradip Roy, the octogenarian’s lawyer.
The woman has mentioned in the petition that her husband Anil Chandra, who died in 2004, had built the house and willed it to her.
“My client has two daughters and three sons. The daughters live with their in-laws. Her elder and younger sons and their wives had to leave the house because of her second son and his wife,” Roy said.
The lawyer claimed that Amal and his wife used to torture Adhikari. “The couple did not allow any help to enter the house. As a result, the widow could not buy her medicines and was taken ill repeatedly. They also denied her water. In mid-2008, they drove her out.”
The lawyer submitted that his client had one last wish. “She wants to spend the rest of her life in the house and take her last breath there. The court should intervene so she could fulfil her last wish.”
When contacted, Adhikari’s younger son Abhijit said his mother was “seriously ill”. Amal could not be contacted.
-- Shared by Ratul Das
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