Yesterday, the world-marked Elderly Abuse Awareness Day, specifically set up to make the people more conscious about a matter that is normally not given too much attention in the media.

Child abuse, of whatever nature, is a serious crime that is given priority on television stations and newspapers, and so it should be. But, at the other end of the age scale, there are many elderly people who are victims of abuse, and therefore such behaviour should also be condemned.

A statement issued by the Department of Information for the occasion remarked that it is estimated that between four and six per cent of elderly people suffer some form of abuse. Like children, elderly people are often defenceless and this is the main reason why they end up being victims, many times of their own relatives.

It is often the case that criminals – particularly thieves – use the fact that elderly people are weaker than younger generations and therefore pick on them because they are “easy” targets. We have heard many times that elderly people have been robbed in their own homes, and they often also suffer other consequences such as being beaten up. Such instances will lead these elderly people to lose their sense of security in their own home, something that nobody would like to live with.

Such crimes are despicable and should be treated as such. The law lays down that criminals who commit crimes against elderly people should be given heavier punishments if caught and found guilty, and this is normally the practice. Perhaps the law-makers could also consider making such penalties even harsher.

But this is only the tip of the iceberg, because crimes committed against elderly people are few when compared to other forms of abuse elderly people have to endure, sometimes by members of their own family.

There are various occasions, as the DOI statement pointed out, when elderly people are robbed or defrauded by members of the own family, sometimes their own sons and daughters. Again, perhaps the law should make it clear that stiffer punishments ought to be handed out to people who are caught committing such crimes against their own parents or elderly aunts and uncles.

But what perhaps hurts elderly people the most is that they are neglected by their own relatives. After having raised sons and daughters, and possibly also after have taken care of grandchildren until they were physically up to it, elderly people often end up on their own, living the last years of their lives in complete abandonment, loneliness and misery.

It is sad to see so many elderly people left on their own.

It happens to those who continue to live alone at home. It also happens to those who live in residential homes. Neighbours living close by and people working in residential homes often remark that elderly people hardly ever receive a visit from their closest relatives.

The main excuse that is mentioned is that in today’s day and age, with life moving so fast and with so many things to do, there is no time left. But this should not be the case. There is always time to visit the man and/or woman who raised you, took care of you, fed you, nursed you and gave you the tools to lead the life you are living.

Elderly people have a wealth of knowledge and experience that should be passed on to the younger generations. Of course, the way they see life might be totally different from what middle-aged and young people think, but this does not mean that it is the elderly people who are in the wrong.

The younger generations must understand that elderly people must continue to live their life in dignity.