Assault of elderly woman for bank card spotlights growing problem of elder abuse in China
- The old woman was pushed and slapped by her daughter, who wanted access to her bank account
- Elderly abuse is a growing problem in China, particularly financial abuse
The detention of a woman in northeast China for assaulting her 79-year-old mother has highlighter the increasing prevalence of elderly abuse in China.
Wang was detained for 15 days, fined 1,000 yuan (US$157) and is being investigated by the local Communist Party committee for the crime.
“The mother had already transferred her property to the daughter’s name, but the daughter still wanted the bank account and threatened to beat her up,” said a friend of the mother in the report. The friend added that it was not the first time the daughter had beaten up the old woman.
“Every time she was assaulted, it was because of money,” the friend said.
Elderly abuse has become an increasingly serious social problem in China as the country continues to age.
A survey of more than 10,000 people aged 65 and above in central China’s Hunan province last year showed that 15.4 per cent had experienced abuse, including physical assaults, emotional abuse, financial manipulation and neglect. A decade ago, the Chinese central government said 13.3 per cent of older people had been abused.
Every time she was assaulted, it was because of money
Financial abuse has also grown sharply, spiking to 6.24 per cent in 2020 compared to 2.8 per cent in 2020, according to the study published in the peer-reviewed journal BMC Public Health.
In May 2020, the nation was shocked when a man buried his paralysed elderly mother alive in the northwestern province Shaanxi. The woman survived. The man said he was fed up with feeding her and looking after her all the time.
Police found the woman, who was 79 at the time, three days after being buried in loose dirt. Her son has been sentenced to 12 years in prison for the crime.
