Woman found living with dead mother cured, ready to go home, says IBHAS

Activist Sreerupa Chaudhary, who rescued the woman from South Delhi’s Saket in September 2010, said, “A passerby noticed a foul smell emanating from the house and alerted police. Subsequently, we were informed and it was with great difficulty that we got her out of the house. She was admitted to IHBAS in a state of great distress and diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia.”

While IHBAS has now said the woman has recovered and is ready to be discharged, the woman’s ex-husband and daughter are reportedly unwilling to take her to their home.

In a petition last year, the woman’s daughter told the court that she did not want her mother to be rehabilitated in a “family setting” and preferred that she be put in a shelter home in Delhi. She, however, told the court that she was willing to be the “guardian and manager of her (the patient’s) properties and assets”.

Opposing the move, IHBAS said the patient must be rehabilitated in a “community or family setting”. The woman, too, expressed a desire to go home. “For two years, IHBAS has made efforts to rehabilitate the patient, but her family has shown minimal interest. She needs a community setting to be healed. Moreover, the economic rights of the patient also need to be taken care of,” IHBAS Director, Dr Nimesh Desai said.

“We do not want her to be neglected. Let there be a good monitoring system for the patient with court-appointed officials, policemen, NGO workers and doctors collaborating to ensure her safety. IHBAS will extend all help needed,” he said.

The woman’s daughter has suggested that her mother be placed with the HC Raheja Institute in Delhi after discharge.

However, an inspection team constituted by the State Mental Health Authority examined the facilities at the institute and found that the authorities did not even have a licence to run the home.

Chaudhary also pointed out how the woman’s daughter had chosen a shelter home in Delhi, while she herself was living in Bangalore on the grounds that her professional commitments did not allow her to take care of her mother.

“Living in a shelter home is not the right opportunity for recovering patients. A long-term rehabilitation and monitoring plan need to be drawn up jointly by State Mental Health Authority and IHBAS to support her,” Chaudhary said.

“For the past 14 years, the woman had no contact with her ex-husband or her daughter. Ironically, the family who had abandoned her, leading to the worsening of her mental condition, now seeks powers to manage her assets. The court must look into this seriously to ensure no foul play or miscarriage of justice,” Chaudhary said.