Nearly 700 patients go missing from Kerala mental hospital in six years, human rights panel seeks report

KHRC registers case

KHRC’s Public Relations Officer (PRO) Binu Kumar told South First that a case was registered based on the recent report in a mainstream Malayalam daily.

However, the commission has been aware of problem for some time now, he said.

The KHRC chairman, Justice Antony Dominic, was also seized of the situation after a visit to the centre in November 2022.

“The KHRC chairman Justice Antony Dominic had visited the hospital on 17 November, 2022, and issued several instructions to the hospital administration,” Kumar said.

The centre, located at Oolampara, is one of the most reputed mental hospitals in the state. Established in 1870 by the Travancore king, the hospital treated patients with epilepsy, mental retardation, and psychiatric conditions.

In 1985, the hospital was renamed Thiruvananthapuram Mental Health Centre. Currently, the hospital has 507 beds and is situated on a 36-acre property.

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Relatives abandon patients

“They (patients) leave the hospital discretely without the knowledge of the security personnel,” the KHRC said in a statement.

“There are also patients who are cured but their relatives do not take them home. It is alleged that the police do not make significant efforts to find them. There is also a shortage of security personnel at the hospital,” the statement read.

The statement further claimed that 1,646 patients have gone missing from the state’s three mental health centres during the past 13 years.

In February, the Director of Health Services Dr Meenakshy V informed the KHRC that the relatives of 43 women and 57 men refused to take them home after they were cured of their ailments. As many as 24 women and 42 men were from other states.

Justice Dominic directed the government that those who were abandoned by their relatives should be shifted to a rehabilitation centre.

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DHS director unaware of missing patients

Dr Reena KJ, the present Director of Health Services, told South First that she was unaware of KHRC’s intervention. She expressed ignorance over the missing patients also.

However, Dr. Reena assured that she would respond after investigating the matter.

South First’s calls to the officials from the Peroorkada Government Mental Health Centre were not answered.