Dumping one’s wife, mother or sister at a mental health institute in order to dupe her of the property share or to get rid of her can now cost a heavy price, warned member of the National Commission for Women, Sushma Sahu on Thursday.
Sahu has arrived in the capital city as a part of the Centre’s bid to complete a detailed survey of the mentally-challenged women in the State. The BJP Mahila Morcha’ State president Usha Pandey and others welcomed her before she headed towards the state-run Ranchi Institute of Neuropsychiatry and Allied Science (RINPAS).
“She is here along with a four member team of doctors from National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (NIMHANS) for an assessment of the living condition and the quality of treatment of women patients at the RINPAS for two day. Sahu is the chairperson of the committee, which is a part of the Centre’s programme to check the status of the mentally-challenged people in the country mainly focusing women,” said Pandey.
The NCW member not only visited the women section of the hospital here but also talked about the various issues faced by men in our society that often goes neglected. “We mostly focus on the abuse, harassment and the crimes related to women in our society but what about the growing number of men who are falling mentally illIJ We are here to take account of the genuineness of the patients who are undergoing treatment at the government-run hospitals across the country as the Centre is worried about the lot’s well-being and the ill-treatment often meted out to them. These people are sick and cannot understand the gravity of the situation in which their family members try to get rid of them, terming them as mental,” said Sahu.
She further explained that out of the hospitals in Kerala, West Bengal, Agra that she has already visited, she has found women and men begging to her for mercy and ask for proper rehabilitation. “These women are often subjected to torture by their families and husbands. If they once behave abnormally out of extreme stress and anger, they are dumped at these places and never contacted back. We are trying to locate such families and take action against them and the ones that cannot be traced back will be rehabilitated properly. We will arrive at a conclusion only after the completion of the survey and announce plans to rehabilitate such patients. The society cannot randomly call anybody insane and forget about them. We will have to work in tandem with the hospital managements across the nation to move them from a state of unstability to a state of well-being and stability for better India,” added Sahu.
The five-member team will cover teams of 25 patients each and talk to them to fill up their set of questionnaires in order to successfully complete the survey here. The team took information about the arrangements here with the patients and their relatives, the hospital staff regarding their meals, beds, clean drinking water, toilets, clean clothes and other basic needs along with the quality of treatment, medicines and counseling. Sahu also gave necessary instructions and feedback in this regard to the hospital management.
“The team that has arrived here has been busy talking to patients and will also continue their interviews tomorrow. Though, the chairperson of this committee seemed quite satisfied with the infrastructure facilities and the quality of treatment here. She knows we are doing our level best,” said Dr AK Nag, Medical Superintendent, RINPAS.