A Couple Is Suing Their Son For Not Giving Them Grandkids
“They see people in their neighborhood playing with their grandchildren and feel like they should also have one,” their lawyer said.
If you thought your parents couldn’t ruin your life past the age of eighteen, think again — these parents are exercising their authority much further than you can imagine by taking their adult son to court for not following their wishes.
Sadhana and Sanjeev Prasad, who live in Haridwar, a city in northern Uttarakhand in India, have just filed a petition against their only son, who has not provided any grandchildren even after six years of marriage.
The petition is asking for 50 million Indian rupees (about $643,000) in damages from their son, 35, and his wife, 31, according to a report by CNN. The document claims that the couple spent about 20 million Indian rupees (about $257,000) raising their son.
Their legal representative, Arvind Srivastava, stated on Monday, "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.”
It sounds like maybe they do not understand that you don’t raise your kids just to get some grandkids out of the deal.
Their attorney goes on to explain the terms that Sadhana and Sanjeev have outlined, saying "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."
It also sounds like they don’t understand that you can’t really demand for two people to produce a human based on your wishes — and that there could be complicating factors even if the couple did want kids.
Srivastava also added that as the couple ages, they will not have anyone to care for them, and that every parent's wish is to one day be a grandparent.
The hearing is scheduled for Tuesday — but the couple in question hasn’t talked to the press or made a statement through their legal representation.
“We want a grandson or a granddaughter within a year or compensation, because I have spent my life’s earnings on my son’s education,” Sanjeev Ranjan Prasad said according to Today.
In addition to claims for compensation regarding the expenses incurred from raising their son, the couple also says they purchased them a car and paid for their honeymoon. The petition not only targets their son and daughter-in-law, but also the daughter-in-law’s family.
“We got him married in the hope we would have the pleasure of becoming grandparents. It has been six years since their marriage,” Prasad continued. “It feels as if despite having everything we have nothing.”
Though the lawsuit seems farfetched, controversy over familial obligations has been a long time conversation in India, and has made its way into the courts in similar circumstances, such as parents being able to legally claim an allowance from their adult children in an effort to protect the wellbeing of senior citizens in India.
Let’s hope this family comes to a resolution that is in the best interest of everyone involved, grandkids or not — and let’s mark this of yet another example of why it’s important that individuals are in charge of whether or not they have a kid, and not anyone else.
