24 years on, no justice for 5 mentally ill undertrials

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Thiruvananthapuram: Five undertrial schizophrenic prisoners have been languishing in forensic wards at the mental health centre, Peroorkada, for the last 18 to 24 years. 
 
The jail advisory committee and hospital monitoring committee have ignored their plight totally. This has been revealed in an RTI note  received by advocate J. Sandhya of Human Rights Law Network.
 
According to the information, Subash, 32, (for schizophrenic evaluation since May 20, 2013 from Mavelikkara sub-jail),   Das, 55, (schizophrenic since April 8, 1994 from Poojapura central jail), Monichan, 41, (schizophrenic since February 10, 1989 from Kottayam sub-jail), Raghunadhan, 50, (schizophrenic since June 17, 1996 from Mavelikkara sub-jail) and  Sojan, 31, (schizophrenic since June 17, 1994 from Poojapura central prison) are facing gross human rights violations.
 
According to Sandhya, as per law, a mentally challenged  person can be tried by courts only if it is certified that he is fit to stand trial. “Over the years, they have controlled behaviour and can live the rest of their lives under ‘supervised medication’ as any other schizophrenic.” “Instead of sending these  undertrials to rehabilitation centres, they are still in ‘custody’ in the real sense as forensic wards in MHC are miniature forms of prison,” Sandhya told DC.
 
Top prison officials told DC that the JAC has to be convened every six months, but the last committee meeting was held on October 14, 2012.
 
“As they are unfit to stand  trial, the respective court has to inform the jail authorities when they have to be produced so that they can be convicted. As long as they are not convicted, we can do nothing,” said a prison official on condition of anonymity. 
 
Most of these undertrials are charged under section 302 for murder. But Dr. Sheela Joseph, MHC superintendent, told DC that these schizophrenic prisoners have been admitted to ward six there. 
 
“Some of them still get violent and they are unfit to stand  trial. They are put in individual cells while the rest of them are put in a common ward. We had written several times to the court requesting it to take their cases before the bench, but so far justice has been delayed,”  said Dr. Sheela.
 
Sandhya feels that these undertrial prisoners have been abandoned by their families and friends alike after all these years. “Since they don’t have anyone, they have become “voiceless,” said Sandhya.