People abandoning ‘unwanted’ relatives at Vemulawada temple

Unable to take care, family members leaving the old and the sick on their own at Vemulawada

Vemulawada: Vemulawada temple town attracts scores of devotees every day with people visiting the temple of residing deity Lord Rajarajeshwara Swamy as well as other temples.

Besides pilgrims, common public especially aged and abandoned persons also visit Vemulawda town to take shelter in the temple premises. People having disputes with family members often land up at the temple to lead a peaceful life. Besides such people, there are also instances of family members leaving behind aged and mentally challenged persons in the temple premises. Not interested in looking after mentally challenged and aged persons, they wash their hands off and leave them in the temple town.

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While some aged people eke out a living seeking alms at various shrines of the temple town, some of them die due to lack of proper medical support and other reasons.

Vemulawada town police detected three such cases in the recent past.

According to the police, a 70 year old woman Elkapalli Ramavva was found dead behind the main temple on October 17 last. A native of Garshakurthi, Gangadhara mandal of Karimangar district, she had three daughters and used to stay in their houses in turns. Unable to take care of the mother, one of her daughters left her in the temple premises.

Police conducted an enquiry and handed over the body to Banda Bharathi, one of the daughters of the deceased woman.

Besides Ramavva, six unknown deaths were also reported from June to September 2020. While three unidentified persons died in June, two died in August while another died in October.

In another incident, a 32 year old woman, Sunitha was found by the police while she was moving in the town. A native of Govindapur, Shayampet mandal of Warangal district, Sunitha came to Vemulawada as her family members refused to accept her.

After having two children with her husband, Sunitha fled with another person, who was turned out to be a dacoit. When she tried to go back to her family, the husband refused to accept her. She came to the temple town as her parents also denied her any refuge.

After finding the woman in the temple premises, police kept her in Sakhi center for a few days and traced the details of family members. As the husband refused to accept her since she left the home eight years ago, police handed Sunitha over to her parents by convincing them.

Similarly, a 50 year old lady from Mallepalli of Hyderabad, Rampalli Girija came here twice within fortnight after fighting with husband. She was handed over to husband Suresh after providing them counseling 15 days ago.

Speaking to Telangana Today, Vemulawada town CI Venkatesh said family members of aged and mentally challenged people who are unable to look after them, have been leaving them in the temple premises. The police have found few such cases and they were paying special attention to such kind of persons, he said. He also cautioned that a case under the Senior Citizens Act will be registered against people who had abandoned their aged family members in the temple premises.

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