SHRC Case no. 4394/22/13/2023 file by Meenakshi B of Equals CPSJ on Valsarvakkam lynching of homeless man with mental disability

[Vaishnavi Jayakumar]

Dear Ummul,

A case was filed via HRCNet with SHRC Tamil Nadu by our colleague Meenakshi B, in her capacity as member of the NHRC core group on disability. Diary No 595/IN/2023, case no. 4394/22/13/2023 was filed on 25 April 2023, regarding "violence against a person with psychosocial disability  / some form of disability by the general public, resulting in killing the person." The link to the following article was also shared in the complaint form : 

Disabled man dies after being beaten up in Chennai

Apr 17, 2023, 05:56 IST

CHENNAI: An unidentified mentally challenged man, in his 30s, was beaten to death by local residents near Valasaravakkam after he pelted stones at passersby. While the attack happened on April 13, the man succumbed to injuries in a hospital on Saturday. Police have altered the case to murder and detained three suspects.

According to a complaint filed with Valasaravakkam police by Karambakkam village administrative officer K Thangapandian, the incident happened around 8 pm last Thursday.

Local residents said the man was homeless and used to hurl stones and abuse passersby. While some of them chased him away, several left him with a warning.

On Thursday, the man threw a small log at a bike-borne woman in Padmavathy Nagar. Enraged over this, the woman halted the vehicle and picked up a fight with him. She grabbed the log from him and thrashed him before leaving the spot.

The mentally challenged man tried to escape and ran away when some passersby began chasing him and threw stones at him.

The man who suffered severe bleeding injuries, escaped from the mob, when one Jayamuthuvel took a cricket bat and assaulted the victim, in which he suffered a severe head injury.

 

timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chennai/disabled-man-dies-after-being-beaten-up-in-chennai/articleshow/99543545.cms

The action sought is the following : While the law and order machinery has been started in the case of the 4 main accused, there is an obvious requirement for some community awareness  in the surroundings by the government authorities on mental health, common behaviours in acute mental illness, what to expect and how and when best to intervene when someone is in an acute mental health situation and unaware of their actions. Additional media coverage (linked below) points out that while the first act of aggression was by the homeless person with mental illness / disability, subsequent violence by the community was not restricted to retaliation alone, but amplified to senseless violence by way of stone pelting and finally beating with a cricket bat by bystanders in the local community. 

https://www.dtnext.in/city/2023/04/16/mentally-challenged-man-beaten-to-death-by-mob-in-valasaravakkam

https://www.newindianexpress.com/cities/chennai/2023/apr/17/three-held-for-beating-mentally-unstable-man-to-death-in-chennai-2566643.html

Additionally, first responder training on  negotiating with emotionally disturbed persons and sensitisation is also recommended as Chennai has a history of  en masse 'drives' rounding up anyone  appearing homeless and possibly mentally ill and housing them in shelters. While these actions may be well-meaning they are nevertheless dehumanising, disrespectful and deviations from concepts of legal capacity and consent as laid out by current mental health and disability laws.

Despite over a month having passed, the portal reveals no progress on this complaint. Recent events like the Shahbad Dairy neighbourhood exhibiting the Bystander Effect  show that responsiveness and responsibility as a group in understanding and overcoming both hate and apathy needs to be learned. Governmental intervention in Valsarvakkam and surrounding areas so that the local community recognises the social dynamics of group violence and the potential for swarm behaviour is a priority.

More so because the victim of this lynching is an unknown, unnamed destitute person with no family to raise a hue and cry.

Media coverage of this disturbing incident is attached. 

We look forward to your support in escalating this with SHRC-TN.

Regards,

Vaishnavi

[Vaishnavi Jayakumar]

Thanks to Ummul for persisting with this. We meet at noon today at Vidya Sagar, Kotturpuram with VIT's Asst Prof of Sociology from VIT Ms Mahalakshmi and members from SCARF to  take community awareness forward.

Dumping all information related to this matter here : https://docs.google.com/document/d/1xt5KVRyuH61HD1-0mUK7mcm_gLN0mwG6Ve4DEXK6FeU/edit?usp=sharing (Updates will appear here too, so save this link)