Govt Mental Health Centre in Thiruvananthapuram
One who visits the centres cannot possibly sleep at night; even one cannot sit for 10 minutes in the cells in which the inmates were admitted. You Can Also Check: Gold Rate in Kochi | Silver Rate in Kochi | Bank Holidays in Kochi | Public Holidays in Kochi Stay updated with the latest Kochi news.
The smell of sweat and bodily fluids was so rancid there,” the bench orally said. “However, the directives were not being taken seriously. The things in these centres are going worse than war crimes. How is it that the state countenances the violation of human rights like this? Democracy and freedom were completely curtailed. How can those people be made to suffer such conditions? The bench further pointed out that it had visited the mental health centre at Thiruvananthapuram over a month ago, but things had not changed at the ground level yet. “The directives were not taken seriously under the shroud of secrecy in these centres. The manner of human rights violations was so rampant that no state could afford to lose even a second in addressing them. But they had not been addressed yet,” the Court added. Meanwhile, the amicus curiae suggested a social audit of the three centres, with even members of the press being given restricted or supervised access. The court accordingly adjourned the matter to Thursday for the state’s submission. Download the TOI App.
Kochi: The high court on Tuesday severely criticised the state govt for failing to comply with its earlier directives to revamp the three govt-owned mental health centres in the state, orally observing that “it was an abject shame”. A bench of Justices Devan Ramachandran and Basant Balaji further adjourned the matters regarding the pathetic conditions of the mental health centres to Thursday, requesting the appearance of the advocate general to address the case. Expressing deep concern over the pathetic living conditions of the inmates of these three mental health centres, the court stated that after visiting the centres, it had even reserved words, thinking that the govt would respond appropriately if given some time.
Previously, the bench had visited the three centres –– at Thiruvananthapuram , Thrissur and Kozhikode –– and directed the secretaries of the health and social welfare department and the social justice department to file comprehensive reports regarding the remedial measures taken or to be taken by the next posting date. However, on Tuesday, the bench noticed that the responses were incomplete, following which the court criticised the lackadaisical approach of the state govt on the matter.