In her sunset years, Ms. Chakkamma discovered to her consternation that she was no longer wanted by her children and grandchildren she had cared for and loved for decades.
Rescued by the police after being found abandoned by her family, the 90-year-old grandmother, has yet to come to terms with the fact that she will never experience the warmth of home and hearth any more. The police found her cramped in a shanty outside the house of her son in Chilavannoor near here.
Based on an alert from local residents, the police reached the house and rescued Ms. Chakkamma, who was fighting the odds to stay alive. “Chakkamma single-handedly brought up her three sons and a daughter after her husband’s death 42 years ago. They are into fishing and other unskilled labour’’, officials said. The shed in which she was staying was leaking profusely. Lean and scrawny, she was just a breathing frame and could barely walk.
“She was bathed with her son’s assistance and was immediately shifted to the Ernakulam General hospital,’’ officials added.
When questioned, her children tried to give evasive responses. But the police warned them of strict action for abject disregard for their mother in her old age.
