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A temple in Rajasthan puts the mentally ill through unspeakable rituals in the quest for a 'cure', a newspaper reported on Friday.
At the Mehendipur Balaji Temple, 100 km from Jaipur, the victims are forced to inhale the fumes of burning dung cakes, bathe in and drink water from a filthy water tank, and stay chained up or lie pressed under heavy rocks, The Indian Express said.
This is one of several instances of rights violations that have come into focus following a fire in a shelter for the mentally ill in Tamil Nadu this week. Most of the 28 inmates killed in the tragedy were chained up for the night and could not escape the flames.
Perhaps the most inhuman form of 'treatment' at the Mehendipur Balaji shrine involves the people with more serious mental disorders being made to keep rocks -- ranging in weight between half a ton and three tons -- on their stomachs. Often the patient dies.
"Some die while keeping the stones on their body. But they have to keep it there till they really feel the pain," a candid Pappuji, who reportedly specialises in chaining the mentally ill, told the paper.
"Balaji (the presiding deity) decides what the punishment is to be given and then the patient himself asks for it," he said.
"Unfortunately, cruelty outside mental hospitals, especially in places of worship, doesn't fall under the Mental Health Act. The law itself needs to be amended," said Shiv Gautam, head of psychiatry at Jaipur's SMS Hospital, who has treated many who have been to the Balaji temple.
Meanwhile, a shelter for mentally ill destitute on the outskirts of the Punjab city of Patiala has reportedly been keeping several inmates in chains for months together, the newspaper said.
While 20 inmates are chained to their beds or confined to locked rooms, some are shackled to trees outside the building and let in only during rains.
Eight inmates have reportedly been in chains for several months while two have been shackled for some years, it said. Those running the home said the chains are required as the patients are violent and dangerous.
Indo-Asian News Service
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