'Why does my brother-in-law’s body have so many injuries?'

Admitted to Thane mental hospital for treatment of schizophrenia on February 7 a Vasai resident was found with multiple injuries six days later with the family alleging that he was beaten up at the asylum He died a few days later while undergoing treatment for rapid breathing at Nair hospital The family wants a probe against the mental institutionThe dean of Regional Mental Hospital RMH Thane has denied any assault by his staff but has assured of an internal enquiry into the familyrsquos allegationsThe 53yearold deceased who was unmarried and lived with his brother and his family in Vasai was admitted to RMH on February 7 after he started soiling his clothes and surroundings and refused to take his medicines said his kinlsquoForced to pay bribersquoThe sisterinlaw of the deceased told midday that the RMH staff asked for a court order to admit himAlso Read Mumbai Crime Promised a job woman sold for marriage at Rs 2L by insta friendThe deceased manrsquos sisterinlaw PicHanif PatelldquoWe did not have a court order and while we were talking among ourselves one person accosted us and asked for Rs 8000 in cash for his admission Since he needed immediate medical attention and we had no other option we agreed to pay the bribe to Vinod More who gave us a receipt of Rs 2050rdquo she said adding ldquoThere were no injuries on his body when we admitted himrdquoldquoWe visited him regularly But on February 13 the staff told us that we canrsquot meet him They said he was kept in isolation as he was naked and had not been eating After pleading with the staff we managed to see him from afar He was fully naked but we convinced him to wear his pants after which he also ate a few bananas on his ownrdquo she recalledThey left the hospital around 2 pm Around 6 pm on February 13 they received a call from RMH with the staff asking them to visit immediatelyThe injuriesldquoThe staff told us that he had fallen sick We thought that he might have just created the usual ruckus so we thought of visiting him the next day We called back on the landline number to tell them that but no one answeredrdquo said the sisterinlawThe deceasedrsquos brother added ldquoAround 10 pm the hospital called us again and said that his health condition had deteriorated so he was being rushed to civil hospital They said he had an acute breathing problemrdquoThey rushed to the civil hospital where ldquoan RMH employee Vishal suggested that I get referral letters from the mental hospital as well as the civil to shift him to JJ hospitalrdquo said the sisterinlawldquoVishal had promised to arrange an oxygen bed at JJ hospital provided we got the referral letters from So a few relatives visited TMH on the night of February 13 for the referral letter but the staff there was confused They then called Vishal who got us a discharge book from TMH which was neither signed nor stampedrdquo she addedLater that night the sisterinlaw was wiping his body with a wet cloth when she noticed ldquohis right elbow was fully swollen and there were lacerations and abrasions all over his both the hands and legs There was also an injury mark on his foreheadrdquoMeanwhile on the morning of February 14 the family had secured referral letters from both the hospitals but Vishal was nowhere to be found and his phone was switched offldquoWe took him to JJ hospital on our own but it did not have a vacant bed The ambulance driver helped us and took us to Nair hospital where a neurosurgeon enquired about his wounds We told her everything that had happened so farrdquo she addedTreatment at NairA senior medical practitioner at Nair hospital told midday the patient was brought in ldquoan unconscious state and tachypnoea rapid breathing and was undergoing treatmentrdquo However he passed away on the evening of February 19 ldquoThe postmortem report states that it was a natural deathrdquo the practitioner saidHowever the niece of the deceased said ldquoA few cops had visited us from Agripada police station and asked about the wounds and injuries on my unclersquos body We had categorically told them that there were no injuries on his body when he was admitted at the mental hospitalrdquomidday visited RMH Thane where Medical Superintendent Dr Netaji B Mulik said ldquoHe was admitted to our hospital as he was irritable and aggressive Generally such patients injure themselves after becoming aggressiverdquoldquoWe do conduct medical tests of the patients at the time of admission and if there are any injuries on hisher body we inform their relativesrdquohe addedAccording to the documents at RMH Thane the deceased had no injuries at the time of his admission on February 7 But on February 13 the documents show his lsquoright elbow is swollenrsquo On this Dr Mulik said ldquoWe donrsquot beat up patients here Generally patients get injured during fights among themselves But I will initiate an internal enquiry and personally look into the matter to understand if the injuries were selfinflicted or because of beating by someone elserdquoHis relatives said ldquoWe are taking legal advice to approach the police We will not spare the culprits who brutally assaulted him at RMH Thane We have buried him with proper rituals but if required we will help the police to exhume his body for detailed investigationrdquo