Bengaluru: Man throws mom out of his house, cites bad breath

BENGALURU: Children abandoning parents over property issues and financial disputes is something elders and women’s helplines deal with on a daily basis. But what came to them as a shocker was a private company employee throwing his mother out of the house citing bad breath.
Shut out of her house, the widow is now spending her days in an old-age home.
Shyamala, 47, was living with her only son Vikas and daughter-in-law (names changed on request) at their residence in Bharathinagar.
In January 2019, she approached a private hospital as she was suffering from toothache. The doctors decided to extract her tooth. Post surgery, the area operated upon developed an infection. It spread, resulting in a swollen, pus-filled mass on her jaw. The mass developed a terrible odour.
Vikas and his wife started ill-treating Shyamala and avoided talking to her. One fine day, Vikas asked his mother to leave the house as they were feeling suffocated by her bad breath, which also put them in a bad light in front of guests.
Shyamala, then approached Bengaluru City police’s women’s helpline and counselling centre Parihar and shared her ordeal. Parihar co-ordinator Rani Shetty summoned Vikas and family members, but they refused to turn up. Shyamala, who too was in no mood to return home, requested for an alternative arrangement.
“As she was suffering from severe toothache, we decided to send her to a shelter, thinking she will get medical support. But other inmates also raised issues stating that it was causing stench and that there were chances of them getting infected,” said Rani.
Unable to find shelter, Shyamala returned to the women’s helpline. Rani sought help of Bharathinagar police, who tracked down Vikas and brought him to the police station. Following a stern warning, Vikas promised to treat his mother well, but set a few conditions which included that she had to hand over her monthly pension to him.
Shyamala did not agree to his conditions and sought the help of police officials, who took her to an old-age home, where she is currently lodged. Bharathinagar police inspector Ramesh G said they have made several attempts to convince Vikas and Shyamala to come to a compromise, but they did not relent.
“Eventually, we helped Shyamala with whatever she asked. We are in touch with her and will help her again if she approaches us,” he added.
(Inputs from Meghna Nair, Simran Preetham)