Mentally-ill woman tied to tree, kept in chains in Raj

In a case of inhuman treatment, family members of a 65-year-old, mentally-ill woman kept her chained for more than seven years in Karauli district in Rajasthan.

Ramshri Devi, a resident of Khohara Ghusethi village near Hindon town in the district, became mentally disturbed some years ago.

The family members, instead of providing treatment, found an easy way out. She has been kept chained to a tree or confined to a room with her legs tied to the bed.

“We started to keep her in chains after she lost her mental balance seven years ago and became violent and hysterical. She sometimes started throwing stones at neighbours. The neighbours started complaining and suggested to keep her in chains,” Ramshri’s son Megh Singh said.

Megh Singh’s brother, Lokesh Singh, said since she developed the illness, all their savings have been exhausted on her treatment.

He said they have indeed given treatment at a local hospital but it only led to exhaustion of their money and with no relief to the patient.

“We have sold off our ancestral agricultural land to pay for the treatment. In this small place, there is no hospital capable of treating my mother. And we don’t have the resources  to take her to big cities,” said Megh Singh.

When she becomes hysterical, family members give her sleeping pills to calm her down and if that don’t work, they would tie her to a tree like an animal.

He said efforts to get help from the government for Ramshri’s treatment were of no avail. “I took her to every administration officer in the area for help, but nothing has been done,” he said.