Over 5,000 mentally ill in Mumbai streets

The State Human Rights Commission, presided over by a division bench of Justices K K Tated and M A Sayeed, has taken cognizance of the complaint filed by a leading judicial activist NGO, Janhit Manch, which has said that more than 5,000 mentally ill destitute men and women are wandering and living a sorry life on the streets of Mumbai.

- Pranali Lotlikar

The NGO claimed that these people have been totally abandoned, not only by their families, but also by the state.

The 17-page order copy passed by the SHRC states, “The complaint is about a few schizophrenic, bipolar and mentally unstable people roaming on the streets of Mumbai, who are forced to consume spoiled food as well as live a destitute life. Many times, such people are subjected to physical as well as sexual abuse. There are no estimates of the population of mentally, ill, destitute, men, and women living on the streets of Mumbai, but it estimates that, the number of homeless would be more than 5000.”

Further, the order notes, “These men and women were found to be often lost in their own world, laughing, and talking to themselves. They were found to be in poor physical health due to a lack of nutritious and hygienic food.