Davangere: Abandoned by her husband, Sushilamma, a mentally-ill woman from Shivamogga district, Karnataka, lived away from her hometown in Manali of Himachal Pradesh for four long years. However, she has now finally returned to her home state with a series of collective efforts by ETV Bharat. ETV Bharat was the first to publish Sushilamma's story on her struggle in dealing with her mental illness, in a faraway unknown place.
The language barrier, different atmosphere, different people, food and culture were taking a toll on Sushilamma's health. Her condition only worsened day by day.
ETV Bharat took initiative to reach her with the help of Suneela Sharma, a social activist based in Shimla.
Later, a word was put across to Davangere Deputy Commissioner GN Shivamurthy, who then took over the case to bring Sushilamma home. This was followed by an official from the Karnataka government who visited Sushilamma in Shimla to procure more details about her.
"ETV contacted the district administration and Deputy Commissioner at Davangere to convey that a woman from Karnataka is stranded in Shimla and she has to be rescued. She has been now brought back to Karnataka. The social media and ETV have rendered their help to bring her back," said Shashidhar from Differently Abled Welfare Department.
Sushilamma is now admitted in the State Home for Women in Davangere.
Karnataka government appreciated the ETV Bharat's efforts for its worthy initiative.
Sushilamma's Past
She was abandoned by her husband after 11 years of marriage. The couple separated due to her husband's extramarital affair, which had a severe impact on Sushilamma's mental health.
Depressed, and heartbroken Sushilamma reached Himachal Pradesh without any knowledge of the place, where she was spotted and then admitted to the State Homen for Women, Shimla.
She was then shifted to an NGO, named Adarsha.
Tough Treatment
As per mental health guidelines, patients can undergo counselling when they wish to. Also, their counselling is mandatory to be in their mother tongue. Due to the language barrier, Sushilamma never had access to any kind of counselling.
Also, there is a guideline on the patient's treatment to take place in their respective hometown, so as to avoid any kind of fuss.
There are a number of NGOs that provide shelter to these patients. Reports suggest that a large number of patients from the south Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, Telangana along with West Bengal are undergoing treatment in Himachal.
Other such cases
In a similar case last year, a patient named Padma from Periyapatna taluk of Mysore district was found in Shimla.
Padma was also brought back with the help of media.
Former chief minister Kumaraswamy had then directed the respective department to take charge and bring her back.
Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Jairam Thakur then bid farewell to Padma.
Kumaraswamy also granted an amount to Padma and helped her family build a house with the help of a government scheme.
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