Nearly a week after he left his wife in a huff at the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport in Mumbai, a Spanish national suffering from bipolar disorder was found wandering in and around Sewri, early Friday morning. When his wife, after learning about his whereabouts came to take him back, he tried to attack her and had to be pacified by policemen before being taken away in an ambulance. Soon after, the Spanish man, identified as 54-year-old Damian Vidal, was admitted to the psychiatric ward of the state-run JJ Hospital, where doctors say he is now stable. A doctor attached to the hospital said, “A Spanish citizen was admitted here at 10.30 am today. He suffers from bipolar disorder and is now being given medication for his illness.” [related-post] Vidal and his wife Elizabeth, residents of Spain’s Galicia region, had arrived in India two weeks ago for a vacation. The police said that they had visited Agra, Varanasi, Rajasthan and Goa, and were to fly to London on May 21. “They arrived from Goa last week and were to catch a connecting flight. Vidal had forgotten to take his medication that morning and began to fight with his wife in the flight. The crew had to separate them. When the plane landed in Mumbai, the couple exited separately and Vidal caught a taxi and went away without informing his wife,” said an officer at the Sahar police station. Elizabeth, who is a lawyer, was advised to approach the Sahar police station and lodge a missing person’s complaint. Though Vidal was in possession of his cell phone, the police was unable to track him. “It was an international number and Vidal hadn’t made any calls,” said Baburao Mukhedkar, senior inspector, Sahar police station. With a foreign national diagnosed with a mental condition missing in the city, the police put up posters bearing Vidal’s photograph, describing his condition and a phone number for anyone who saw him. Bipolar disorder is a brain disorder characterised by extreme swings in mood and energy levels. “Our concern was that something could have happened to him,” Mukhedkar said. The police said that at 4 am on Friday, Vidal was seen wandering around Sewri. He even asked locals for a phone so that he could make a call. “No one could understand what he was saying, so a few people brought him to the police station. He called his wife from our phone,” said Sudhir Nagve, senior inspector, Sewri police station. Mukhedkar said that when Elizabeth arrived at Sewri police station with police officers, Vidal attempted to attack her. “He became violent and we had to control him and put him inside a police van till the ambulance arrived,” he said. Vidal, the police say, has not been able to provide a clear account of his whereabouts since he left the airport but Elizabeth has a good idea. “He was discovering India,” she said, outside the psychiatric ward on Friday afternoon. Taking a short break from looking after her husband, Elizabeth said that this was their third visit to India. She expects to fly home Saturday, once her brothers-in-law arrive. “He cannot fly back until he gets better and I have things to care of at home. We were supposed to go back last week,” she said. Her tone turned grave when she described the state she found her husband in. “He was naked. His mobile phone, his watch, passport, visa, all gone,” she said.
