*Vadura, a village of the damned & ignored* *Sukhada Tatke* Sukhda Tatke/TNN Unmindful of the scorching heat and the iron chains around his legs and hands, Raju alias Rajendra Dhere crouches on the ground, tracing his name in the mud with a finger. Ask him his age and what he does in life and he is quick to respond with One and Class One respectively. Then he begins rambling incoherently.
The 40-year-old's plight is, bizarrely enough, reflected in almost every fourth house in *Vadura* <http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/topic/Vadura>, this village of 1,800 people in the *Nandgaon-Khandeshwar block*<http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/topic/Nandgaon-Khandeshwar-block>in the heart of *Amravati* <http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/topic/Amravati> district. Elsewhere in Vidarbha, the issue of poverty-stricken farmers committing suicide has taken precedence over all else. But in Vadura, or "paagalon ka Vadura" as it has come to be called, villagers have a greater concern: the silent demon of mental illness that has been afflicting people over the years and is now begging for government intervention. The villagers are unaware of the draft Mental Health Care Bill of 2010 which prohibits chaining persons with mental illness. Raju's family says that chaining Raju is the only way to keep him in "control". "He tends to get violent. We admitted him to the Regional Mental Hospital at Nagpur thrice, but it has not helped," says his brother's wife, under whose care Raju has been since his farmer father committed suicide three years ago. Known as an intelligent boy and swimming expert in his teen years, Raju today bears no resemblance at all to his younger self. Fifty-two-year-old Laxman Satange, better known as 'Tiger' in the village, does not reflect the picture of his youth either. He sits in a corner or roams around his house, engrossed in whatever catches his fancy. If it is a piece of paper, he folds it relentlessly for hours; if a pen, he doodles endlessly. His brother Prabhakar is in the same boat. Until two months ago, he would wander around the village and take his clothes off. Now he talks to himself and spends most of his time sleeping. Known as the 'paagalon ka gaon', the village in Amravati, has an alarmingly high ratio of mental illness but the government hasn't seen it fit to intervene --* http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chennai/Vadura-a-village-of-the-damned-ignored/articleshow/17083331.cms *<http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chennai/Vadura-a-village-of-the-damned-ignored/articleshow/17083331.cms> -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Mental Health Advocacy (News 'N Views) India" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/MhaNewsViewsIndia?hl=en ------------- Affiliated Groups : MENTAL HEALTH ADVOCACY INDIA [email protected] Discussions on mental health law / policy / plan monitoring / human rights etc [email protected] India-specific news and views related to mental health [email protected] Information and support to carers of people with mental health issues [email protected] Mutual support and sharing of experiential knowledge, skills and social learning amongst peers
