A son who ill-treats and assaults his mother cannot claim the right to enter her house, the Bombay high court has said. A south Mumbai resident, along with his wife and minor child, had approached the court after his 72-year-old mother changed the locks to her Malabar Hill flat and refused him and his family entry. “Prima facie, the son has no right to his mother’s home,” said Justice Shahrukh Kathawalla. “He also cannot claim any right of entry on grounds of dispossession, when the mother is seriously troubled over the problems created by him in the house, including committing assault…” The elderly woman, a doctor, recently appeared before the judge, saying that for “the last several years, I was suffering mental and physical abuse at the hands of my son”. She told the judge her son, under psychiatric treatment for over a decade, had repeatedly assaulted her. She said when she could not take the abuse any more, she filed a police case and also a complaint under the domestic violence Act. High court orders 24x7 police help for senior citizen The Malabar Hill senior citizen who was facing harassment from her son changed the locks of her flat as a last resort, when her daughter-in-law and grandson left it, along with their maid and dog, on vacation. The senior citizen said she stopped living in her flat as she was scared of her son. The judge assured her she won’t be harassed by her son anymore and can start living in her home. “The senior inspector of Malabar Hill police station is directed to render all assistance to the woman, as and when she needs help at any point of time, day or night,” the judge ordered. The woman’s deceased husband too was a doctor. Their flat stood in her name. The son claimed he had been dispossessed and said his mother was acting at the instance of his sister and brother-in-law, who were going through financial difficulties. His mother refuted the allegations and said her daughter lived in a sprawling flat on Nepean Sea Road, while her son-inlaw was managing his family business. She denied giving any financial assistance to her daughter or acting at her behest. The court allowed the son and his wife to retrieve their belongings from the Malabar Hill flat in the presence of the high court’s commissioner for taking accounts. The court directed the man to produce his medical records and prescriptions.