A couple in India are suing their son for not giving them grandchildren.
Sadhana and Sanjeev Prasad, who live in Haridwar, a city in northern Uttarakhand state, filed a petition this month seeking 50 million rupees (about $650,000) in damages from their son and his wife.
The couple claim they spent about 20 million Indian rupees (about $257,000) raising their son, who is an only child. The couple’s legal representative, Arvind Srivastava, said,
They raised him, educated him, made him capable, made him a pilot – which was expensive.
They see people in their neighborhood playing with their grandchildren and feel like they should also have one. They said they didn’t marry (their son and daughter-in-law) off so that they can live alone … So they said that in the next year, either give us a grandchild or give us compensation.
…there is no-one to take care of them… all parents wish to be grandparents one day.”
According to CNN,
The Prasads also bought a car for their son and daughter-in-law, and paid for their honeymoon.
The lawsuit primarily targets the son and daughter-in-law – but the petition also lists complaints against the daughter-in-law’s family.
Though this kind of lawsuit is rare, the topic of familial obligation has long been controversial in India, where carrying on the family line and caring for elderly parents and in-laws is often seen as a filial duty.
It’s also sometimes a legal duty: parents can claim a monthly allowance from their adult children under a federal law that seeks to protect parents and senior citizens who may not be able to take care of themselves.
A number of related cases have made headlines in India in recent years, like the family dispute over monthly allowances in 2020. A Supreme Court judge told the sons in the case,
Don’t forget, you are everything because of (your father).”
The irony of last name of the couple filing the lawsuit, Prasad, is not lost on me. In Hindi, it literally means “a gracious gift”.
A couple in India are suing their son and daughter-in-law — for not giving them grandchildren after six years of marriage https://t.co/7IPh2yvWBc
— CNN International (@cnni) May 17, 2022
(via CNN)
