Psychiatric Patients

Chunni Lal

Shackled for 25 yrs at home, not in jail 

Ashutosh Sharma
Tribune News Service
SunderBani, September 6


Chunni Lal has spent half of his age in chains. It is not in some dark dungeon of a jail but in the compound of his home. Chunni Lal has been suffering this inhuman treatment at the hands of his wife and son who say he is a “lunatic” and keep him tied to “feel secure”.


Lal has spent the rainy season tied to a tree but this is not a new experience for this poor soul as he has been going through this ordeal for the past more than 25 years - irrespective of searing summers, chilly winters or storms. While neighbours doubt if he really was mentally unwell, Chunni has been languishing in inhuman conditions in the absence of proper medical and psychiatric treatment.


This is not happening in some relatively remote pocket of the state but in Thanda Pani area of Sunder Bani tehsil, 85 km from winter capital of the state.


When this correspondent visited the home of Chunni Lal during late evening hours, none of his family members were present there. His address could only be guessed from his chains, occasionally clanking through the darkness.


Dressed in rags, a strong, white-bearded man in his mid-fifties was tied to a tree about 50 meters away from the house amidst wild vegetation of grass, bushes and trees. In the name of company, he had a herd of cattle squatted nearby.


When asked, he enthusiastically told his name. When told that he would be photographed, he stood up and posed with his hands clasped against chest showing his chains. “They say I am mentally ill, that’s why I am in chains,” he remarked.


Neighbours, on the condition of anonymity, disclosed that he was untied on the marriage of his son about four years ago. “He did not cause any harm to anyone during the marriage ceremony,” they said, adding: “Thereupon, he was enchained again”.


When asked if he was ever taken to a psychiatric hospital for the treatment, they expressed ignorance and said they did not want to intervene in anyone’s personal affairs.

(http://www.tribuneindia.com/2009/20090907/j&k.htm#14)

Chunni Lal TRIBUNE IMPACT Chained Chunni Lal freed, probe begins  Ashutosh Sharma Tribune News Service Jammu, September 11 The long ordeal of Chunni Lal, who had been chained to a tree in Sunder Bani in Rajouri district, looked a changed man today.  He was released, had a bath, hair cut, clean-shaved and dressed in a clean kurta-paijama. The Tribune had reported the plight of Chunni Lal in its column on Monday: Shackled for 25 yrs at home, not in jail. An investigative team led by Sunder Bani tehsildar Vijay Kumar today visited the home of Chunni Lal. Local confided that the police was aware of the matter, but was reluctant to intervene until the Deputy Commissioner ordered an inquiry yesterday. “The police was reluctant to mediate as it was a family matter,” they said. “It is unbelievable that such kind of human rights violation incident could happen in our area,” Pawan Kumar, a local teacher, said. He said the administration should make sure that the life was saved by taking civil society and the family concerned into the confidence. An inquiry committee headed by the tehsildar concerned was looking into the matter and would submit its report tomorrow. DC, Rajouri, JP Singh admitted that it’s a serious matter of human rights violation in which the family was accused while the neighbours maintained a silence. He said: “The inquiry committee is looking into all aspects and action would be initiated soon after the report is submitted.” “During the inquiry, we put up several questions and asked him for identifying some neighbours. He gave right answers, besides identifying the people correctly.  It gave an impression that he was normal. However, a medical team will conduct a check up to ascertain his mental status,” the tehsildar said, adding that the family on being questioned said he got fits and argued that he was shackled for the past seven years. “In some stray incidents, two insane persons were shot dead when they entered into Army areas. The family claimed that they had enchained him as a precautionary measure,” he added. “Since it has happened within a family, it happened probably because of grave ignorance rather than criminal negligence,” general secretary of the People’s Union for Civil Liberties Pushkar Raaj said. (http://www.tribuneindia.com/2009/20090912/j&k.htm#5)