Howrah News Service -  Latest news and headlines on Howrah,West Bengal and World: Family shackles woman for 7 yrs at Domjur

Family shackles woman for 7 yrs at Domjur
================================================================================
LOCALCORRESPONDENT on 29 February, 2008 07:40:00
 
Domjur, HOWRAH: Thirty-year-old Basanti Sardar has forgotten the use of her
limbs. She crawls around on the floor of the cramped seven-feet-by-five-feet
room at her Domjur residence. For the past seven years, Sardar has been kept
shackled in this room — all because she is 'mentally challenged'.
Basanti  claimed she was normal and wanted to be set free. "I have been kept in
chains for several years though I am fine. There are bruises on my legs and it
hurts every time I try to move. I want to live normally, go out and work," she
pleaded.
Basanti was reportedly driven away by her husband a year after marriage. Ever
since she came back home, she was neither treated nor allowed to leave the room
by her family.
Her mother Shobha, who works as a domestic help, claims she might turn violent
if allowed to leave the room. "When she came back from her husband's house, she
would scream and hurl things at people. So we decided to keep her in chains. I
tried to get her treated but couldn't afford the medicines," she said.
The family alleged Basanti had been abused by her husband Uttam Kolay and her
in-laws. About a year after the marriage, she had delivered a child, but it died
within a month. "Basanti lost her mental balance completely after this," her
mother claimed.
In the damp dingy room, Basanti lies on a sheet of cloth on the floor. She is
given food twice a day and is freed only when she goes to relieve herself. Local
residents know about her plight but no one has protested.