Elderly people listen to the survey report of HelpAge India at Bihar Industries Association in Patna on Friday. Picture by Nagendra Kumar Singh

A survey conducted in four districts of the state has revealed 35 per cent of people aged over 60 are abused almost daily at home for several reasons, including property dispute.

The state branch of HelpAge India, which conducted the survey last month, released the report, “Elder abuse in Bihar”, on Friday — the eve of World Elder Abuse Awareness Day. The HelpAge officials went to three villages in two blocks of Patna, Gaya, Madhubani and Supaul districts and spoke to 465 elderly people (aged above 60) for the study. The report apart from being an eye-opener to elderly abuse in the state also threw up painful facts.

If 35 per cent of the elderly polled were abused at home, half of them said they could not share their experience with others fearing a bad name for the family. The HelpAge officials said the survey was carried out in places where the elderly population was at least 60 per cent.

Dharmendra Kumar Sinha, state head, HelpAge India, said: “Thirty-five per cent of the 465 elderly people we interviewed in the districts were being abused at home almost daily, often for trivial matters. But half of them could not share their experience with friends as they considered it to be a ‘family matter’. They did not want to reveal the abuse they faced at home fearing the bad name it would earn the family. Four per cent of the people were even physically tortured.”

Economic dependence on children, increased longevity and property dispute (24 per cent of the cases) were cited as few of the reasons behind the elderly persons being abused at home.