On Monday, a video of a Kerala woman brutally beating up her 90-year-old grandmother was trending on social media. Deepa, 39, invited a lot of criticism and hate on social media for assaulting her grandmother. She was arrested by the local police, but was later let off on bail.
However, it turns out that there is another side to the story. Mental stress resulting from back-to-back setbacks in life provoked Deepa to brutally assault her grandmother in a moment of heightened desperation. Those who spread the video never took into account the stark fact that Deepa’s was an offense committed in a fit of utter rage and frustration borne out of her long years of suffering.
A sorrowful and guilt-stricken Deepa said that she would never have committed the hideous act of beating her maternal grandmother had there been anyone around even just to listen to her woes. “The video showed what happened as a continuation of strife with the neighbours. The anger and helplessness provoked me to beat up my grandmother, which I realise was a big offence. After all, I am only a human being, and there is no one around with whom I can share my woes,” Deepa said.
Deepa's family of five, which includes her two children who are studying in Class 2 and Class 5, 70-year-old mother and maternal grandmother, reside in a decrepit house that stands in three cents of land.
Deepa has been shouldering the entire burden of the family after her husband abandoned her about seven years ago. She had worked as a helper at a tailoring shop in Kannur city for a while. As the workplace is far away from her home, she used to get back home late. Deepa left that job and stopped going out after her daughter was attacked under cover of darkness while she was away. Ever since, they have been living in constant fear and abject poverty.
To add to their woes, even though the family has no income whatsoever, the government issued them the APL (above poverty line) ration card. This means that the family has to make do with the 2 kg rice that they get once in a month. “Nobody is concerned about how the five of us live. We have been isolated. I have even thought of committing suicide along with my children. I wish someone at least bothered to listen to our problems,” lamented Deepa.
Following the incident, the police shifted Kalyani Amma and Janaki to a shelter home in Athani.