Mentally-ill women find a friend in HC

On Wednesday, the Delhi High Court issued a series of directions to various civic authorities to ensure rehabilitation of these women in seven homes to come up in identified in Dwarka, Rohini and Narela.

More than 2,500 mentally ill women roam the streets of Delhi, exposing themselves to the hardships of daily life.

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On Wednesday, the Delhi High Court issued a series of directions to various civic authorities to ensure rehabilitation of these women in seven homes to come up in identified in Dwarka, Rohini and Narela.

A Bench of Justice A.K. Sikri and Ajit Bharihoke was hearing a PIL filed by Pratibha Chopra, a Delhi University law student, drawing the court's attention towards the plight of mentally ill people in the Capital.

The PIL was inspired by the plight of Gitanjali Nagpal, a model found begging on the streets of Delhi three years ago.

Nagpal (32), who once walked the ramp for top designers in the country, was found begging at a market in south Delhi. The Delhi Commission for Women (DCW)

took her to VIMHANS Hospital, where doctors diagnosed her with fear psychosis.

The petitioner referred to Nagpal’s case and said there were more than 2,500 women in Delhi who were mentally ill and do not receive any aid from the government,

leading to their exploitation.

The Delhi Development Authority had identified the spots for shelter home for such women after the court expressed its anger over the delay during the last hearing.

The court had also directed the Delhi police to amend its training module to change chapters on how to deal with and handle mentally ill people.

The court said for proper implementation of the provisions of the Mental Health Act 1987, the standard operating procedure for police officials had to be formulated.

The court also mooted the idea of sensitising magistrates.