Patients freed, Karaikudi dargah asked to stop faith healing

By Our Staff Reporter

MADURAI, AUG. 12. A special squad of revenue officials in Sivaganga district last night released 22 mentally ill persons, including eight women, chained in a dargah at Pethanendhal village near Karaikudi.

The Collector, Mr. Jasbir Singh Bajaj, told The Hindu that the health condition of at least 17 persons, in their early twenties, was so bad that they had to be taken straight to the Karaikudi Government Hospital.

A few of them, who were found violent, would be shifted to the Government Rajaji Hospital in Madurai for advanced treatment tomorrow. The dargah was asked to wind up its `faith healing' operations for the mentally retarded with immediate effect, he noted.

On a tip-off, the Collector directed the Joint Director (Health) and other officials to make a surprise visit to the Nader Dargah at Pethanendhal.

The team found 17 of the 22 inmates chained and left to ``faith healing''. The health of the `patients' was found to be in bad shape. There was no toilet facility and the surroundings were unhygienic.

The Collector ordered that the inmates be sent to the custody of their kith and kin. While five persons were handed over to their guardians, others were admitted to the hospital in view of their ill-health.

Ironically, the accompanying relatives did not allow the chains to be removed even in the hospital as they believed that the shackle was sacred and healing. However, the Collector pacified them, asking them to remove the chains.

Mr. Bajaj said he had sent a report to the Government for further action. The asylum had been functioning for the last 40 years and there was no indication of any fee being collected from the guardians of the inmates, he said and appealed to the public to inform the officials of any such asylums operating in the district for immediate action.

Collector leads medical team to dargah

Meanwhile, the Madurai Collector, Mr. S. Ramachandran, led a medical team to a dargah at Goripalayam in the city and interacted with the 50-odd inmates, including women and children. ``None of them was chained and there is no indication of their having been chained in the recent past'', he said.

The visit comes in the wake of the Aug. 6 fire at a private asylum at Erwadi in Ramanathapuram district.

The medical team, which included Dr. K. Bose, Dean (in-charge) of the Government Rajaji Hospital, would visit the Goripalayam dargah periodically to persuade the kith and kin of the inmates to shift them to hospitals for better treatment.

On Monday, the Collector would visit a dargah atop Tirupparankundram near here, where a few mentally ill persons were undergoing `faith healing'.

Govt. move hailed

People's Watch-Tamilnadu has appreciated the Government for ordering the closure of all 16 mental asylums in and around Erwadi and other asylums run in thatched sheds in the state.

It also welcomed the government move to introduce mental health programmes at the district level and insist on the existing asylum owners seeking licence within one month.

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