Three incidents heard on Elders' Day about parents being neglected

Three incidents heard on Elders' Day about parents being neglected

The World Children's and Elders' Day fell yesterday (01). The theme for this year to commemorate Elders' Day in Sri Lanka was: a tomorrow to protect rights of the elders.

At a time when Elders' Day is being commemorated this way, we come to hear of pathetic incidents of a father who is left

abandoned in Walahanduwa area in Galle at a vihara and another father who had been left by the roadside in Polonnaruwa and yet another mother this time, who had been abandoned and left all alone in a house in Manampitiya.

The first mentioned old man had been brought and left on a road opposite Dehigahawila Vihara on Galle - Udugama Road last 30th evening and it was reported that he was in a very feeble state without even a piece of clothing on his body and was lying there in that condition. A bag of clothing too was found somewhere where he was lying. Neighbours who spotted him had contacted the police emergency number (119) under the directions of the vihara and had taken steps to send him to Karapitiya Hospital in an ambulance.

This age-old person who was so admitted to hospital was not even in a condition to speak about his incapacity and was not in a sound state of mind either and was somewhere between the age of 85 and 90, it was reported.

The father shown in the picture above has been spending his time for a number of months at a bus-halt on the main road opposite the Polonnaruwa Manampitiya Sinhala Maha Vidyalaya.This father who had brought up three or four children with great effort is from Kandy and is being neglected by his children, neighbours say. He refuses to make any comments to anybody about what happened to him for the reason that it may damage the reputation of the children. When inquiring about his children, tears are seen trickling down his face. He accepts whatever is given to him by people around the area to appease his hunger. But he still remains at the Manampitiya bus-halt facing all hazards of sun, rain and wind in addition to mosquitoes.

Yet another mother who undergoes a similar fate in Manampitiya East leading such an existence because of the neglect of her children, is reported. She has 3 children. One of them had passed away. Of the other two one is in army service while she is not aware of where her daughter is, it is said. She is not even in a position to move about and the neighbours visit her from time to time; but it has not been possible for them to make such visits continuously as such. The descriptive video about the Walahanduwa father, from below

Description -- Theja Singhabahu, Priyantha Bandara, Nimal Jayaratna