Telangana: Oldies turn into sexual deviants

Hyderabad: An 85-year-old former employee of the Railways has been accused of raping six young girls and buying their silence with chocolates. This case has shocked parents around the city and caused them re-evaluate whether it is safe to leave their children in the care of senior citizens.

Speaking about older men who turn out to be sexual deviants, Dr K. Prashant, a psychopathologist, says, “For older men, it is all about control and power. In most cases, on looking into their backgrounds, you can see that they have no intimate relationships with family members. It is not just about a repressed sense of sexuality; they want to assert power — power that they feel age has taken away from them. I have dealt with many cases in which parents have refused to believe their children’s complaints because they just cannot accept that elderly men are capable of such acts.”

A 23-year-old IT employee from Gachibowli was the victim of sexual abuse at the hands of one such man. “It took two or three therapy sessions with my psychologist before I was able to open up about how my uncle had sexually abused me as a child. I told my mother about it, but she did not believe me. He continued to call me even after I got a job, just to prove that he could unnerve me, and so I had to start seeing a therapist,” she says.

Psychologists say that older men and women are more likely to undertake risky behaviour. Dr Meena Soalank, a psychologist, says, “In most of the cases that I deal with, you won’t believe that the men being accused are capable of such actions. They do these things just to prove that they can. Many parents ask me who they can trust if their children are not safe with elders in the family.”

“Many men in respec-table professions, who deal with many children on a daily basis, such as school principals, are also being accused of sexual abuse. As parents, we should look beyond age and profession to ensure the safety of our children,” says Ms Iyer.

She says that with schools, and now even homes, becoming unsafe for children, it is high time that men who commit such deplorable acts are brought to the limelight. “Many men in respectable professions, who deal with many children on a daily basis, such as school principals, are also being accused of sexual abuse. As parents, we should look beyond age and profession to ensure the safety of our children,” says Ms Iyer.