THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: As many as 691 patients went missing from Government Mental Health Centre, Peroorkada, in the last six years. A total of 1,646 patients had gone missing from the three mental health centres in the state in the last 13 years.
The State Human Rights Commission has sought an urgent detailed report from the Peroorkada Hospital authorities on missing patients. Commission judicial member K Baijunath demanded that the hospital should submit the report within 15 days. The commission registered the case based on media reports. The missing include people who were brought to the mental health hospital for treatment. The patients go missing despite the presence of security personnel in the hospital. Many who have been cured are not being taken home by relatives.
“Of those who went missing, there are many who were not taken back by relatives. There are allegations that the police do not take serious efforts to trace them. Also, the hospital does not have enough security personnel. In some cases, the relatives who bring patients to hospitals give wrong address. At times, relatives will not accept the patients as they are not ready to accept that the patient has been cured,” pointed out a statement issued by the Human Rights Commission.
An official of the Mental Health Centre, Peroorkada, told TNIE that the number of security staff at the centre is inadequate. At present, the MHC has only 14 security staff. “We treat hundreds of patients and there is a security lapse because we don’t have adequate staff. Earlier also we had raised the issue with the government and higher authorities. We need a minimum of 20 or above staff to secure the centre which spreads across several acres,” said the official.