"Since she is still a lunatic, we have not sent a report"

The Indian Express has published a story of 73-year old Sarla, who has spent the last 43 years of her life at the Varanasi mental asylum, awaiting trial for murder until she was deemed fit to be presented in court.

Sarla, abandoned by her husband a few years after marriage, came to Allahabad to train as a nurse in 1961. She was arrested for the murder of a batchmate but was acquitted of the charge by a district court 2 years later. The district court at the time had held her mental health to be "precarious." However the state government challenged the verdict and insisted that Sarla be retried when "fit." Sent to the Varanasi asylum on being rearrested, a report on her mental health was due from the medical superintendant to the Allahabad High Court. That report has not reached the High Court for the last 43 years...

The reason given, "The HC wanted a report when she became normal. Since she is still a lunatic, we have not sent a report."

From a human rights perspective, I believe this is no longer an issue of whether the murder was even committed or not! This is a criminal violation of a person's basic human rights, on the excuse that they are considered mentally unstable. Every citizen should have an equal shot at justice, no matter what their disability or situation in life is. India has a very long way to go in recognizing people with mental health problems as individuals with rights equal to the rest of the population, as is witnessed in several acts including the Persons with Disabilities Act.

This is compounded by the justice system in the country, which needs some major reforms and philosophical rethink on several issues. Cases linger on for years, people sent to mental asylums frequently fall through the cracks and are forgotten, people are imprisoned for years before their case can even come up for hearing...so guilty or not, your freedom is snatched away.

Both the issues at stake are very important aspects of a country's protection of its citizens. There are many issues that come within these big umbrella concerns, the issue of guardianship, of legal counsel, of mental asylum functioning, among many others.

Sarla's case has been taken up by Ramesh Upadhyay, who's moved the National Human Rights Commission on her behalf. And despite the verdict, the 43 years that she has lost being labelled, restricted, and punished, will be gone forever.