A Non - Governmental Organisation from Nyeri county has decried the rising cases of neglect and abandonment of old people by their families and the society in general.

The executive director of Purity Elderly Care Foundation Joyce Wanjiku says most of these aged people have been abandoned by their children while at the same time are being stigmatised by the community.

Wanjiku says her organisation which offers care and assistance to neglected senior citizens has been overwhelmed by the many cases in the region. She says seven out of 10 cases the organisation has dealt with result from neglect by relatives. "In some instances, elderly people have resorted to committing suicide due to loneliness and frustration," she said.

Wanjiku was speaking at Mweiga township while on a visit to the house of 90-year-old Miriam Njeri, a widow who has been sharing her dilapidated house with her goats. "She was thrown out of her matrimonial home by the relatives of her husband who had been advised to get another wife after she fell ill," she said.

The woman says after returning to her father's home, she was chased away by her brother and ended up in her current situation. Her neighbour pastor James Maina says thugs have raided Njeri's house thrice and attempted to rape the old woman but she managed to raise alarm and was rescued by neighbours. Wanjiku urged the community to take care of the elderly in the society and show them love to enable them live a normal life.