Sangeetha is a 28 year old woman with a mental illness. Guru Raghavendra (Programme Officer, BasicNeeds India) visited her a couple of times to understand their situation with a hope to finding solutions to their problems.

Guru felt that there was an urgent need to address their living conditions when he saw the shelter that Sangeetha and her family live in. Their home is nothing more than a plastic sheet on a footpath in the middle of a market area. Sangeetha told Guru that she did not have a place to take a bath. If it rains, they seek shelter under eaves of some stall.

Prema Kiran, a member of field staff of Paraspara (a BasicNeeds’ partner), approached an owner of a house to help Sangeetha and her family by giving his hut on rent, the advance for which will be supported by the organization. The owner refused outright as he felt that Sangeetha and her family live filthily on the roads. This comment was surprising as the owner and his home were part of the dirty and filthy slum. Luckily another person was found who would rent them a room.

Sangeetha began talking about herself. “My elder sisters and father always quarrelled with my mother and one day, it went to such an extent that my mother doused herself in kerosene and burnt herself alive. All this happened in front of my eyes. I feel that my father and sisters are responsible for her death. I got married and we left that house and came and settled here”.

Arjun, her husband said, “Suddenly she started seeing ghosts. Apart from abusing, shouting and talking to herself, she also said she sees her mother and talks to her. When this episode happened I suspected her of being possessed by some evil spirit so I took her to various temples and faith healers. Sometimes it worked and she would be ok. Those faith healers beat, thrashed and drew out the evil spirit. I observed all this and when my wife gets possessed, I will pull her hair, duck her to the ground and thrash her black and blue. That’s my technique and I am happy with the result.”

Shocked, Guru explained about the illness and coaxed them to try out other treatments but Arjun did not budge. He did not seem to realise the fact that such harsh treatment is enough to sober any person.

It is hoped that Sangeetha undergoes treatment, Arjun will treat her well and they finally feel a sense of belonging to a community. Hopefully, with BasicNeeds’ help they will be able to achieve this but Arjun remains pessimistic. He says, “Our life is a burden and it will continue to be till we die.”

Shravya, Research and Policy Programme Officer, BasicNeeds India