Delhi HC asks police to visit man who wants treatment for ‘mentally ill’ son
The direction came when the court was hearing the plea by the father who had sought directions to be given to provide proper medical care and treatment to the son, an engineer by profession, who has been allegedly suffering from mental depression and illness.
delhi Updated: Jan 18, 2019 15:13 ISTThe Delhi high court has asked the city police visit the house of a man who had sought “proper medical treatment” for his son under the Mental Health Act, stating that his ward cannot take decisions regarding his well-being and had threatened killing himself as well as his parents.
Justice Vibhu Bakhru directed the station house officer of the Malviya Nagar police station to go to the house of the petitioner along with a specialised medical practitioner arranged by the father and take a decision on whether the son should be taken to the Institute of Human Behaviour and Allied Sciences (IHBAS) for treatment.
The direction came when the court was hearing the plea by the father who had sought directions to be given to provide proper medical care and treatment to the son, an engineer by profession, who has been allegedly suffering from mental depression and illness.
According to the petition, the son had been working as an engineer for six years before he quit his job in 2012 and said that he needed to look after his health. It said that initially he went to the doctors but later stopped visiting them. The petition maintained that the son is suffering from depression, does not sleep, does not take care of his belongings and does not allow anyone to enter his room. The father also stated that the son has threatened to kill himself as well his parents.
Following this, the father had gone to the SHO of Malviya Nagar asking police to take necessary action under the Mental Health Act; however, no action was taken by them.
“If the concerned SHO is satisfied in this regard, he shall render all assistance to the petitioner to ensure that the son is taken to IHBAS. Needless to state that the doctors at IHBAS shall examine the petitioner’s son and advice further steps to be taken,” the court said in an order dated January 11.
The father had alleged that he was under considerable distress and had sought assistance from the court to make sure that proper medical is granted to the son by the authorities concerned.
First Published: Jan 18, 2019 15:12 IST