For them, it's a matter of faith

By Our Staff Reporter

HYDERABAD, SEPT. 14. He looks straight, smiles briefly, and then shouts an expletive before pulling his pallid face under a torn piece of cloth. He continues shouting, seeking to be left alone, and then breaks into a loud wail. The serenity surrounding the mausoleum at Langar Houz is shattered completely as another person, resting at a distance, too starts bawling.

Despite the tragic fire accident at Erwadi in Tamil Nadu in which 28 mentally ill persons perished last month, people continue to flock the places which are believed to cure mental illnesses here in the City, such as the Dargah Syed Meeran Hussaini Quadri Bogdad. Almost everybody, including the relatives who come escorting the patients, however, remained tightlipped and refused to answer any question.

The people working at the Dargah took a serious objection when The Hindu photographer visited the place. He was mobbed and shouted at by workers of the place and attendants of the mentally ill. They argued that people suffering from severe mental illness were coming to the Dargah from far away places for getting cured.

One of the workers said that only those suffering from severe mental imbalance and who could be a threat to others were chained to subdue them. ``Some patients turn violent and only they are chained. But now, you can see that no one is chained here,'' he said.

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Section  : Southern States
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