[Assam] From Tehelka

[Chan Mahanta]

Savaging the civilised? 'madman' set free

For Jagdamba Dubey, life begins at 70. Putting asylum 'hospitality' 
under the scanner, a Jaunpur judge lets him out on bail after 39 
years of languishing in the Varanasi mental home

By Suman Gupta
Varanasi

Bent, And Broken: Jagdamba Dubey finally walks free
Photos Ravi Srivastava
Since two years after Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru's death, the high walls 
of an asylum comprised the world of 70-year-old Jagdamba Dubey. After 
39 years of gruelling confinement and complete isolation, Dubey 
stepped out of the Varanasi asylum for the first time since 1967, 
courtesy orders from the district and sessions judge of Jaunpur to 
produce him. He was happy, humming in joy.

  The Supreme Court verdict in the Jagjivan Ram Yadav case comes as a 
wake-up call for asylums in Varanasi. Yadav, detained without trial 
for 38 years, was freed on bail recently in UP. The immediate 
beneficiary of the precedent turns out to be a man who's languished 
in the same state for a year longer than Yadav.

  It's tale of grave injustice done to a poor man. Hailing from 
Nizamuddinpur in Jaunpur district of UP, Dubey has spent a lifetime 
shuttling between jail and asylum in Varanasi. He is almost oblivious 
of his past; his memory has dimmed with time. References to the past 
elicit little response. Asked if he wants to go home and get back to 
tilling the land, Dubey's prompt reply was "Why not?" The only 
credible connect to his past are official records and his elder 
brother Tilakdhari.

  On March 4, 1966, Dubey hit neighbour Sitaram with a spade on the 
head following a dispute. Sitaram succumbed to injury four days 
later. A chargesheet was promptly filed within a month and Dubey 
jailed. On December 28, 1967, he was transferred to the asylum in 
Varanasi from jail after being adjudged to be in possession of an 
unstable mind, says his official record.


Dubious? Dubey's home for 39 years
 
The Varanasi asylum is a 200-year-old institution with treatment just 
as antiquated. There are no clinical psychiatrists or counsellors. No 
relatives are allowed in
RP Tripathi, the district and sessions judge of Jaunpur, sought a 
report on Dubey's mental condition from the Varanasi asylum 
superintendent and also set up a medical board to examine him. The 
court also summoned Dubey's elder brother Tilakdhari. He however 
refused to take Dubey out on bail, maintaining that he was mentally 
unfit. Ironically, the very mention of Tilakdhari brings cheer to 
Dubey's face.

  The asylum in Varanasi is spread over 27 acres and was built 200 
hundred years ago. The problem is, their methods of treatment are 
also as antiquated. "New developments in this field prohibit 
isolation. That is just not the case here. The asylum houses 350 
inmates, but there are only two doctors here. "Apart from the two 
doctors, there are no clinical psychiatrists or counsellors," bk 
Bhargava, the superintendent here, says.

  A five-member committee under the Varanasi district judge was set up 
to look into the condition of the asylum. "This is probably the only 
set of outsiders who have been allowed in the asylum for a long 
time," says an employee. Not even relatives are allowed in. "The 
patient is escorted to a meeting room and allowed to meet the visitor 
for an allotted time. The relative usually pays a nominal amount to 
the caretaker to be kind to the patient. This is the standard 
practice here," reveals a clerk.

  "The authorities do not allow any ngo to work in here," he adds, "so 
the outside world practically has no way to ascertain the condition 
of inmates." A specialist who had been posted in the asylum in the 
past says, "There are doctors and ward boys. That's it. How can you 
run a hospital of this scale without nurses," he wonders. One wonders 
with conditions like these, sanity would be at a premium.
Apr 01 , 2006