Chennai: Ill-treated couple get property back from sons

Chennai: The petition of an elderly couple in Tiruvannamalai district has led to them receiving their land back from their sons and the revoking of their settlement deed on Tuesday.

On November 17, Kannan, 75, and Poongavanam, 63, of Vedanatham village in Keezh Pennathur taluk lodged a petition with district collector K. S. Kandasamy detailing the abuse and ill-treatment faced by them from their two sons for the last seven years.

Speaking to Deccan Chronicle, Kandasamy said that the couple had been living in terrible conditions for the last seven years. “The old man told me that the five acres of land that he had brought after years of toil helped them raise their two sons but for the land, the two sons drove him out,” he said. 

“Less than a month after taking over the property, they began to abuse us. For a large part of the seven years, my wife and I have lived on a single meal a day,” Kannan had told Kandasamy. The condition had become so bad that the old man had to work in other people’s agricultural land to earn money to feed themselves. 

When they tried to negotiate with their sons to allow them to cultivate some land, they said that they would allow one acre, but went back on their promise, the collector said. 

Angered by their sufferings, Tiruvannamalai district collector K. S. Kandasamy asked the Revenue Divisional Officer to enquire and take action. “I also did my research and found that according to the Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act 2007, if the transferee was not providing for the basic needs of the parents, the sale deed can be revoked. The district registrar ensured this was done” he said.

Now, the parents have been given their land back, until they live. “Their original names have been restored on the documents and the settlement deed has been cancelled. After this, other collectors must also be able to do this,” Kandasamy said.