The Ministry of Social Welfare is going to raise awareness about the Family Law Bill in the next few weeks.
Minister Rosy Akbar says her action is in response to the recent spate of attacks on elderly people.
“We are going to create more awareness on the Family Law Bill where we have, which we have in place where parents can claim maintenance from their children and children on the other hand can claim maintenance from their parents if their neglected or abused, so that is something we are looking at, at that angle as well whereby we try to sort of enforce this law if we have to.”
In August, an 87 year old man was killed in his home, a 74 year old woman was raped while alone at her house and in Nadi, an elderly couple were left destitute after a falling out with their children.
Akbar says while the ministry is trying to be vigilant, the public need to play their part as well.
The Minister has reiterated that violence against elderly persons will not be tolerated and the ministry will be doing everything in its power to tackle the issue.
