Posted on 09/11/2005 9:00:41 PM PDT by velocityguy
Family justifies locking woman up By Sandeep Sahu BBC News, Bhubaneswar
Two men in the eastern Indian state of Orissa have been explaining why they locked up a woman in the family for years in a single room.
Officials say the 43-year-old, Annapurna Sahu, had been locked up for more than 25 years.
The father now says she was locked up only for four years.
Her brother said they confined her because her "mad behaviour" put off women who might have married him. She was released earlier this week.
'No clothes on'
The father of Annapurna, Brajobandhu Sahu denied that he and his son had treated her inhumanely.
The brother, Ganeswar Sahu, told journalists that his chances of marriage kept falling through because of his "mad sister who would walk up in front of the visitors without any clothes" on.
Annapurna was confined in an abandoned outhouse - only a few feet high and without proper flooring.
The family said she was not mistreated and was given food and water regularly.
Eyewitnesses present during the rescue operation in the town of Dhenkanal, 100km (62 miles) from state capital, Bhubaneswar, said Ms Sahu was living in inhumane conditions.
She was reportedly naked when she was found.
On Friday the brother said she had to be segregated from the rest of the family after she started abusing others.
He mother said Annapurna had dug up the floor of her small room.
Following her rescue, Annapurna Sahu was taken to a hospital in Dhenkanal.
Surendra Mohanty, the doctor treating her, said she had shown signs of improvement since she was admitted.
She was due to be given a detailed examination of her mental state on Saturday, the doctor said.
District magistrate, Usha Padhi, said Ms Sahu would later be shifted to a rehabilitation home.
The cost of her treatment would be paid by the district unit of the Red Cross, she said.
A counsellor from an NGO attending Ms Sahu said she appeared to be weak and emaciated.
Pallavi Nanda, of the Maharshi Dayananda Saraswati Service Mission, said Ms Sahu was taking food and was responding to questions normally. Story from BBC NEWS: http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/world/south_asia/4232518.stm
Published: 2005/09/10 10:46:08 GMT
© BBC MMV
We took photos of the natives when we went there but they aren't developed yet... so we're going back next month.
Dangit!! I messed up the joke! The joke was supposed to be "We took some pictures of the native girls but they aren't developed yet... so we're going back in a few months". -Groucho Marx
You do not have any sense of empathizing with fellow human beings deprived of freedom. Instead making a joke out of it is cruel and cultureless. Usually, such heartless people are called either Jihadists or perverts...you chose one of them that best fits you!!!!
Wasn't so long ago we locked up "crazy" people in attics or insane asylums. Probably no psychotropic meds in that country. Before the turn of the century nuns would have sanitoriums for the insane and all they had was hot baths and wrapping people up in cold wet sheets to calm them.
The term "bedlam" came from the name of an actual hospital for the insane. I believe located in England.
"A lot of regions in India (and probably in other countries in the sub-continent as well) do not treat their mentally-ill in a humane way..."
I charge you with 1. Anti-Indian sentiment, and 2. A complete lack of a sense of humor.
I agree. Mental illness is still not understood over there and in many other countries.
I know of this lady, who after being married and having 2 children, started to get paranoid and talk to herself. The best advice given to the saddened husband was maybe she'll get better if she had more children! So they did have more children, and she got worse. Lucky for her, the husband and children (when they grew up) looked after her very well until she died. She continued to talk to herself non-stop, but she would respond to questions in between. I always wondered, though, if use of a drug for schizophrenia or something similar, might have helped her and her family live a more normal life. The husband had a huge burden through most of his married life but he remained faithful until death.
The anti-Indian thing was just meant to get on your nerves but I refuse to apologize for posting a joke. You need to get a sense of humor to be on FR. Posting a joke doesn't mean you don't care about the subject matter... especially a Groucho Marx joke.
sever = severe
That's a very sad story with a tragic ending. Sounds like a case of post-natal depression, which is highly treatable these days - if you get treatment. God rest her soul.
No need to apologize. All I ask is please try to learn to have
some kindness.
You converted out of Islam?
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