Voluntary organization Malarum Vizhigal was in charge of the night shelter on West Arockiasamy Road near RS Puram in the city. Officials found that the NGO’s registration expired on March 26, 2013.
Two women, identified as Veerammal from Podanur and Shanta from Karnataka, were freed from a dark room in which they were locked up because the caretaker said they had a tendency to turn violent. On Sunday, TOI found a young man chained to a pole in the shelter.
The shelter’s caretaker, K Gangadharan, a retired sanitary inspector and president of Malarum Vizhigal, gave the same excuse for the women being locked up.
The district administration has decided to shift 35 mentally ill inmates from the night shelter after conducting a medical and psychiatric evaluation in the next two days. The state government has also asked the city municipal corporation to conduct an inquiry.
“We have decided to shift five inmates to United Home, a government-approved home for the mentally ill for the time being. We will also ask the corporation to reopen its centre for the mentally ill, which is next door to the night shelter,” said K Karpagam, district revenue officer, Coimbatore.
July 29, 2014 at 3:15 pm
In a sense, the mentally ill are treated explicitly, while those (the lines are really thin), the mentally not so ill are also in chain but somewhat hidden ones…The latter should be in some way thankful to them, for exposed the social situation of all.
July 30, 2014 at 11:03 am
It is easy to blame this socalled NGO. Now this basically a night shelter, then how come nearly half the homeless are Mentally ill? Who put them there? How come a Bengal native lands up in coimbatore? How can a night shleter keep a violent patient without Meddicnes, and without chains or ropes with minimum of staff which that NGO can afford. For Human rights activists, only the Chains and ropes are visible, but not wider issues.