Mental asylum mess appals DCW

New Delhi: DCW chief Swati Maliwal on Sunday said she was “shocked” to see gross violation of human rights in a mental asylum here where women were roaming naked in unhygienic surroundings.

“The women were being made to remove their clothes in the open while being lined up for taking bath. Shockingly, completely nude women were roaming around in the corridors. Moreover, the corridors of the dormitory had CCTV cameras installed which are being monitored by male staff,” the DCW noted.

The DCW has issued a notice to the secretary of the department of social welfare after Ms Maliwal, along with other staff members, carried out an inspection at the shelter home and found that 11 deaths have occurred the-re in the past two months.

After carrying out an inspection at Asha Kiran Home for the mentally handicapped patients, the DCW has found several alleged lapses on the part of authorities, including dehumanising living conditions, overcrowding, severely unhygienic conditions, and absence of proper medical care.

“The commission is horrified to observe several human rights violations and severe issues in the functioning of the home,” the DCW said in its notice.

It gave the social welfare department time until Wednesday to reply to the notice.

Inspection by the wome-n’s panel lasted between late Saturday evening and Sunday morning. Later, Ms Maliwal, in the notice, asked the social welfare department secretary, Dilraj Kaur, to furnish post mortem reports of the dead along with their medical history.

In one of the cottages, the women’s panel found that one of the caregivers was getting her legs messaged by a mentally-challenged patient. One of the women who “appeared to be normal” also complained of abuse by another inmate, the DCW said.

“For instance in the dormitory we slept in, a mentally challenged woman had been assigned the task of helping other residents bathe. She mercilessly abused other mentally challenged women while she hurriedly assisted them in their baths,” the commission said.

The inspection team observed that there was utter overcrowding in the asylum. Each mattress accommodated up to 4 women or children. The toilets and corridors were filled with the stench of faecal matter. “In a particularly gruesome case, there was menstruation blood and stool lying in the washroom. Women were stepping over it to reach the toilets,” the DCW said.