A 20-year-old mentally challenged woman has been tied to bamboo poles for the past 15 years at her home by her bidi-worker parents over “water mania” and frequent dash to ponds despite an inability to swim.
The parents said the girl, one of nine siblings in the family in a Murshidabad village, hasn’t been taken to a doctor for follow-up treatment in the past eight years since a government hospital confirmed she had a “congenital condition”. Her father and mother earn around Rs 5,500 each month rolling bidis.
As a toddler, her parents said they noticed something “unusual” in her affinity for water. By the time she was five, she would often go missing, only to be found playing by a pond.
On one occasion, the girl had waded into the middle of a shallow pond in winter. At any other time of the year, the pond is full of water. Her parents said the close shave alerted her to the dangers of leaving her unfettered.
“Although she isn’t violent, she has managed to break the ropes twice in the past three years. The first time, we found her in a pond. The second time, we found her in a village 5km away. We have no option but to keep her tied for her own safety and ours,” said her mother.
Asked why his daughter hasn’t been taken to a doctor in recent years, the father blamed it on poverty. “Eight years ago, a neighbour had taken us to the government hospital in Behrampore where they confirmed she had a congenital condition but we didn’t have the ability to follow up. The journey to Behrampore (80km away) itself is too expensive for us,” said the father.
According to the mother, “the neighbourhood knows about her condition”. “So they don’t mind us keeping her tied.”
Asked about the matter, block development officer Joydeep Chakraborty said: “I haven’t heard about this case. We will look into it and provide medical help.”
Sumanta Saha, a Behrampore-based psychiatrist, said he had not seen the girl but suspected a case of “intellectual disability”. “Maybe it can’t be fully cured but there are treatments to improve the condition.”
