District Principal and Sessions Judge Kadloor Sathyanarayanacharya said he has come across many cases of individuals being deliberately declared as mentally ill as part of a sinister agenda, during his career.
He was speaking at a programme organised to mark World Mental Health Day at Government Teacher Education Training Institute premises on Friday.
He recollected a case which had come before him while serving as a magistrate from 2002 to 2004 in Mangaluru. A captain of a merchant ship who returned home during the holidays caught his wife with her paramour in a compromising position.
The wife instead of settling for a mutual divorce, conspired with her paramour and got her husband forcefully admitted to a psychiatric ward in a private hospital. The captain somehow got in contact with his advocates and filed a case.
“I was shocked when informed about the captain’s fate. Eventually, the captain’s mother appeared before me and took the stand to share details about her son who was kept locked in a ward against his wishes. Finally, the court issued a search warrant and the hospital discharged him immediately. On realising that he was mentally sound, we set him at liberty,” the Judge said.
He said non one is free from mental aberration. Only the percentage of mental aberration differs from one individual to another, he added.
The judge described District Health Officer (DHO) Dr Ramakrishna Rao as an asset to the society and urged individuals to take an oath on preventing people from committing suicide.
DHO Dr Ramakrishna earlier said counselling can stop suicide. “At the end of the day, mental well-being is the real health,” he said.