Shocking reports have emerged of an 85-year-old man living in squalid conditions, relying solely on the support of his neighbours.
Speaking on Sigma’s Protoselido, Dimos Antoniou, President of the Observatory for the Elderly, said there are many similar cases across Cyprus. “The positive aspect here is the awareness of the neighbours. The state cannot be present in every neighbourhood,” he noted.
He explained that swift mobilisation followed the report. “The awareness of neighbours is crucial in safeguarding the dignity and lives of our fellow citizens,” Antoniou stressed.
Antoniou warned that in many other cases, neighbourhood indifference leads to even more difficult situations. He added that children often neglect their parents: “We haven’t had many complaints of people in such squalid conditions, but we have received reports of elderly abandonment. This amounts to a form of abuse.”
“Children stealing from their parents”
Antoniou said there has been a surge in thefts in the past 18 months. “Children open joint bank accounts with their parents and take their pensions under the guise of caring for them,” he explained.
Some cases have seen entire properties transferred overnight. “They take the assets and then send them to an institution,” he said, adding that no parent will ever agree to report their child to the police.
He concluded by stressing that Cyprus lacks adequate facilities for abused or neglected elderly people, warning that elder abuse in Cyprus is a growing problem requiring urgent solutions.
Also read: Urbanisation in Cyprus drives up city prices as villages empty
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