Reflecting at senior citizens’ safety in Gujarat on ‘World Senior Citizen Day’

As today is celebrated as ‘World Senior Citizens Day’ in many countries across the globe, a recollection of crimes against senior citizens in Gujarat paints a gloomy picture overall.

Gujarat has registered a 44% increase in crimes against senior citizens over the past four years.

The number of attacks on senior citizens rose from 420 in 2020-21 to 604 in 2022-23. This period has seen a significant rise in incidents such as theft, robbery, extortion, and fraud against the elderly.

As per the data presented in the Gujarat Assembly in February this year, there were 29 cases of extortion, 96 of robbery, 268 of fraud, and 1,243 of theft against the elderly between April 1, 2020, and March 31, 2023.

Extortion cases increased from 6 in 2021-22 to 15 in 2022-23.

Experts believe that most cases of extortion against the elderly are related to ‘sextortion’ scandals, where victims are blackmailed on social media and extorted for money.

Additionally, they are also facing an increase in cyber fraud.

According to the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) report, there were 96 cases of fraud against the elderly in 2021 and 81 in 2022, one rape case in both years and 67 murders in 2021 and 49 in 2022.

Furthermore, in the last 10 years, a total of 2,616 retired individuals, including 2,208 men and 408 women, have committed suicide. Most suicide cases were attributed to factors such as loneliness and long-term illnesses.

In 2018, 260 retired individuals committed suicide, while the number rose to 334 in 2022.

A couple of years ago, the state government took the initiative to launch a helpline ‘14567’ for senior citizens, providing information on government pension schemes, guidance and resolution of government schemes, elderly care, and old-age homes.