3 brothers break locks, take away woman from mental hospital

[The Desi DISpatch]

24-Aug-2015

Priyangi Agarwal

BAREILLY : A 41-year-old woman from Bijnor who was admitted to a mental hospital by her husband was allegedly taken away by her brothers from there on Saturday night. The woman's brothers reportedly broke the lock of the private ward under 'family ward' and took her with them. The woman's in-laws have accused hospital staff of carelessness. Police have lodged an FIR for "kidnapping in order to murder" against three men on Sunday night. They are investigating the whole incident including lapse of security at the mental hospital. 

According to reports, the woman's in-laws admitted her to a mental hospital on August 13 and they requested hospital authorities to shift her to the general ward. However, their request was denied and hence, the in-laws moved the ACJM (NER) court. The court ordered the mental hospital's director on Saturday to shift the woman to the general ward. Despite court's order, the woman was kept in a private ward of 'family ward'. 

The woman's husband is a wing commander in the Air Force. 

An official of the hospital who did not wish to be identified said, "On Saturday night at around 11 pm, three men reached the hospital in a white car. They somehow managed to enter hospital premises and went to the family ward. They first asked hospital staff for keys of the family ward and when they refused to give, the men broke the lock and took the women with them in their car." 

The woman's in-laws have accused hospital authorities of carelessness. "If hospital authorities had shifted her to the general ward, her brothers may not have been able to kidnap her. As it is mandatory for a family member to stay with the patient, we wanted her to shift to the general ward. At the time of incident, we had gone out to have dinner," said the woman's brother-in-law. 

He added, "When we came back and learnt about her kidnapping but no hospital staff came at night to enquire about it. As the woman was missing from the hospital's premise, it was the responsibility of hospital authorities to lodge an FIR, which we had to later." 

He said his sister-in-law was suffering from mental illness since 2007 and they had taken her to a few places for treatment. "After her condition deteriorated, we brought her to Bareilly mental hospital for treatment," he added. 

On the basis of complaint filed by the woman's in-laws, police have lodged an FIR against her brothers under section 364 (for kidnapping in order to murder) of Indian Penal Code (IPC). "I spoke to woman's brothers over phone and they said that no family member had accompanied the woman in the hospital. The brothers claimed that they got emotional over this and took their sister to Mumbai for better treatment. However, we are investigating the matter," said Inspector Mohd Qasim, Baradari police station. 

Asked why woman was not shifted to the general ward even after the order of ACJM (NER) court, junior director (health) Dr Subodh Sharma said, "When the director tried to shift the woman before court's order, the woman, who is educated, told the director that she is fine and is not suffering from mental illness. After court's order, the woman had to be shifted on Sunday but she was taken away on Saturday night." He added, "As the woman was admitted to a family ward, it is the duty of attendant and family member to look after the patient. If she had gone missing from general ward, then hospital authorities would have taken action." 

On being asked about security lapse on the part of the hospital, Sharma said, "I will ask director of mental hospital to look into the matter and take appropriate action." Despite repeated attempts, director Dr Sunil Srivastava was unavailable for comment. 

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