Kolkata: Man told to pay mom Rs 25,000/month as maintenance

KOLKATA: It was a moment of relief for 81-year-old Ava Mandal on Saturday when a judicial magistrate court in Alipore ordered her son to pay her Rs 25,000 per month as maintenance, apart from a compensation of Rs 50,000.
The octogenarian had been fighting a six-month-long legal battle after lodging a case of domestic violence against her son Shankar. The judge has also cautioned Shankar against any act of domestic violence on the woman who lives in Kasba’s Dakshin Para.

“The protracted legal battle started even before she filed the case last September. After her husband died, Shankar challenged the will at an additional district judge’s court. The court granted probate in her favour,” said Mandal’s lawyer Biplab Goswami. While the case was on, the woman allegedly started being assaulted by her son and son-in-law. They allegedly abused her and tried to get her to hand over the property to them.

The abuse decreased for a while after she lodged a complaint with Kasba police station, but it started again soon after. “They threatened to break my legs, throw me out of the house and make me beg for a living. I do not earn and feared for my life,” Mandal said.

The woman, almost crippled by arthritis, had to make rounds of the court room to fight for justice. “After my husband retired, we were left with a small amount in savings and this house. After he died, Shankar thought of evicting me,” she recounted.

“When Shankar and his wife moved into the house and constructed rooms in the backyard, I did not object. I never thought they would force me to work around the house like a domestic help,” she said.

Shankar and his wife, however, refuted allegations and claimed she had never treated him as her son. “We have never threatened her. My wife has always responded whenever she needed something. It is a baseless allegation,” he said. Shankar added that he did not have enough money to pay what the court has ordered. “We are yet to see the order. I had challenged the will in court, but never assaulted her. I will seek legal opinion before deciding on the next step,” he said.