Case of chained woman in Hyderabad home for disabled exposes state of mental health care

[The Desi DISpatch]

Woman found chained at Hyderabad rehab centre

30th May 2017

HYDERABAD: Even as Cyberabad police has launched an inquiry into the case of a 32­ year ­old woman found disrobed and chained at a rehabilitation centre in Aaram Ghar, the victim is still waiting to be moved from the centre. There are allegations that the woman was sexually assaulted by some persons, whom the victim does not recognise.

According to Mailardevpally police inspector P Jagadeeshwar, the lady, a native of Bihar, was shifted to Aaram Ghar, a rehabilitation centre in 2014, when she was spotted roaming on the streets. Meanwhile, with the plight of the woman coming to light, the Telangana State Legal Services Authority intervened and directed that she be shifted to Kasturba Gandhi National Memorial Trust (KGNMT) in Hyder Shah Kote. However, officials at the home are still awaiting the court order so that they can provide the necessary care.

“The issue came to our notice on Saturday night. However, we are waiting for the court order to shift the woman to KGNMT as it is a sensitive case. It seems that the woman is mentally unstable. Even to get her treated, there is a need for an order,” informed V Padmavathi, state head of KGNMT. 

While officials at the rehabilitation centre claimed that she was chained only because she was going out of control, Padmavathi pointed, “The fact that she was naked is highly questionable. Even if she displays hyperactive tendencies, not clothing her is a serious offence.” She is still awaiting the court order and is expecting the victim to be shifted by 10 am on Tuesday.

The court order from the Rangareddy district Legal Services Authority (DLSA) came around 5 pm on Monday. “I have requested the home in Hyder Shah Kote to take her in. Conducting a medical check is priority to determine her mental condition,” said T Subhashini, Panel Advocate at DLSA RR.

She also added that the rehab centre did not provide the help she needed. “She was spotted in the wee hours of the night and in the emergency situation shifted to the centre. All homeless in that area are generally shifted to that home as it is reputed and also takes in people. There are 110 people currently there,” added Subhashini.

The RR DLSA also wrote to the State Legal Services Authority in Bihar.

Meanwhile, the Cyberabad Police has filed a case under Section 342 of the IPC that punishes for wrongful confinement. “We started an inquiry and the victim has shared that she was chained quite often and also repeatedly molested by someone she does not recognise. While the ayah claims that she was chained only so that she can be calmed, we are looking into the matter,” Jagadeeshwar further informed.

Section 23 of the Mental Health Act, 1987 states that every police officer in ­charge of a police station can take those found wandering at large within the limits of his station into protection, whom he has reason to believe to be mentally ill or incapable of taking care of himself. However, they should be produced before the nearest Magistrate within a period of twenty­four hours of taking him into such protection, which was not done in case of this victim

http://www.newindianexpress.com/cities/hyderabad/2017/may/30/woman-found-chained-at-hyderabad-rehab-centre-1610686.html

Woman found chained at Hyderabad rehab centre www.newindianexpress.com Even as Cyberabad police has launched an inquiry into the case of a 32-year-old woman found disrobed and chained at a rehabilitation centre in Aaram Ghar, the victim is still waiting to be moved from

Case of chained woman in Hyderabad home for disabled exposes state of mental health care in city

Rajitha S

31st May 2017

HYDERABAD: The case of the young woman found naked and chained at a city home for the disabled has exposed the sorry state of affairs with regard to homelessness and mental health care in Hyderabad, if not in Telangana. The young woman, aged 32 according to the police, was “rescued” from the city streets by local cops on December 6, 2014.

However, in blatant disregard to the Mental Health Act of 1987, the police failed to produce her before a magistrate ­­ the competent authority to decide whether a destitute person was in need of care and treatment ­­ within 24 hours, as stipulated by the Act.

Instead, she was admitted to a Aramghar, a home for disabled persons run by Indian Council of Social Welfare, an NGO. After her plight came to light on Monday, police filed a case of wrongful confinement against the home, and on Tuesday evening, she was moved to the Centre­ run Kasturba Gandhi National Memorial Trust (KGNMT) facility, in Hyder Shah Kote. The Swadhar Gruha, as it is also called, is significantly

overcrowded, housing 106 women against the mandated capacity of 30. Interestingly, the woman has still not been produced before a magistrate.

It remains to be seen whether she will be produced before a magistrate on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, Telangana, three years after bifurcation, still does not have a State Mental Health Authority ­­ as

mandated by law ­­ to oversee implementation of the 1987 Act, and now, the new 2017 Act on Mental Health.

http://www.newindianexpress.com/states/telangana/2017/may/31/no-one-should-be-left-in-a-home-or-centre-indefinitely-1611117.html

‘No one should be left in a home or centre indefinitely’

Rajitha S

31st May 2017

HYDERABAD: Confusion prevails in the case of the Aramghar woman even after her transfer to the Kasturba Gandhi National Memorial Trust on Tuesday. First, she was sent to meet a neuropsychiatrist

at Asha Hospital. “Medical check up is priority to determine her mental condition. The state in which she was discovered is shocking and questionable. The doctor will be conducting all related tests on Wednesday and her treatment and medical aid will be take care of accordingly,” said Subhashini, panel advocate at the District Legal Services Authority, Ranga Reddy district.

However, V Padmavathi, state head of KGNMT, said that as per norms, the woman will be accompanied by a counsellor and a medical check up will be conducted at the Institute of Mental Hospital. But, Subhashini stated that a doctor at the private hospital had volunteered to help in diagnosing the victim’s condition and hence the DLSA had decided to seek it as a second opinion.

The young woman, forgotten by the State for three years, will now face a surfeit of mental health assessments, while still not being presented before a magistrate.

Presence of a State Mental Health Authority, as mandated by law, may have helped matters. However, the Telangana State Mental Health Authority is yet to officially start functioning, according to Dr M Umashankar, superintendent, Institute of Mental Health. “After the state’s bifurcation in 2014, the Authority has been functioning informally as per requirement. I took charge last July and submitted a proposal. We are awaiting the government gazette for the same,” he said.

The young woman had been admitted into Aramghar after she was spotted loitering by Mailardevpally Police late in the night in 2014. Police claimed that she ‘seemed’ mentally unstable and as part of the “regular practice” she was sent to the centre. However, police officials to whom Express spoke also claim they believed that she did not have a mental health problem which is why did not follow the procedure as per the 1987 Act.

“In this particular case, at the time that she was spotted... her mental condition was not determined and hence she was only sent to the home,” said PV Padmaja, DCP, Shamshabad, adding that in other cases the police follows the procedure. She believes that once the woman was admitted to the home she became the home’s responsibility. However, why she needed to be admitted to a home, if she was not ill is unknown.

Activists are aghast. “The (1987) law states that the officer who identifies the person is responsible for putting them in a temporary home and then within the next 24 hours ensuring that he or she is produced before a magistrate who, with a medical officer, determines the person’s mental condition and accordingly prescribes care and treatment. Now that this has not been done, the victim needs to be produced in front of a magistrate at least at this stage,” stressed Vaishnavi Jayakumar, mental health and disability rights activist. No individual can be left in any home or centre indefinitely, she pointed out.

“The minute we spot a person or identify someone who seems mentally unstable, we decide how they should be treated. We just believe that there is no need to respect them as individuals,” Amita Dhanda, head of Centre for Disability Studies at NALSAR, pointed out. People proceed to take decisions for the mentally unstable, with the idea that they are being noble and good, she said.

What the new law says

Under Mental Healthcare Act of 2017, if police officer has reason to believe a person in station limits has a mental illness and is being ill­-treated or neglected, he must report it to local Magistrate. The Magistrate may order the person to be taken to a public mental health facility for assessment and treatment.

Magistrate could authorise admission of the person for not more than 10 days. In the case of a homeless person, police must file a missing person’s case and try trace the family before the person is sent for assessment.

http://www.newindianexpress.com/states/telangana/2017/may/31/no-one-should-be-left-in-a-home-or-centre-indefinitely-1611117--1.html

WATCH! The video that started it all

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cGHI0Fdj3Qg