While the new Mental Healthcare Act 2017 focuses on criminal and civil responsibility of mentally ill, sexual offences and mental illness, there is a dearth of forensic psychiatrists to deal with such cases in the country.

Forensic psychiatry is a specialised branch of psychiatry which deals with the assessment and treatment of mentally disordered offenders in prisons, secure hospitals and the community. It requires sophisticated understanding of the interface between mental health and the law, said Dr RC Jiloha from Indian Psychiatric Society.

He said there are not enough forensic psychiatrists in the country even as there has been increasing need of such experts to tackle offenses related to mental health, medical negligence and many other issues related to law and psychiatry.

In this connection, the IPS is organising two days 18th PG development programme themed ‘Forensic Psychiatry in Clinical Practice’ beginning Saturday at Vivanta Taj in Surajkund in Haryana. Atleast 180 students from six States and a UT (North Zone) Jammu & Kashmir, Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Delhi and Rajasthan and Chandigarh will be imparted training by eminent experts in the subject.

The programme will be inaugurated by well-known human rights activist Amita Dhanda from Hyderabad law University, said Dr Jiloha, professor and Head of Department (Psychiatry), Jamia Hamdard University, Delhi and the organising chairman of the Programme.

“Every year around 100 MD students of psychiatry from the Zone participate. This year 160 students have already registered. Since the theme is Forensic psychiatry they will be taught about criminal and civil responsibility of mentally ill, sexual offences and mental illness, psychiatrists in the court and about narcotic drugs,” he said.        

As there is a scarcity of experts in forensic psychiatry, Institutions like NIMHANS have already initiated a post-doctoral fellowship in this area to develop services and trained human resources in this area.