A startling discovery in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh saw a 65-year-old father and his son tied up in the tiny backyard of a small house along with a cow, NDTV reported. They have been chained continuously for the past 20 years.
After Churaman Kaurav and his younger son were diagnosed as mentally ill over a decade ago, the responsibility of looking after them, both financially and physically, fell upon Churaman's older son, Dinesh Kaurav.
Since Dinesh earns Rs. 3,000 ($50) a month - vastly inadequate to support the family of seven, especially when a third of his salary is spent on medicines, he said he had no choice but to keep his father and brother in chains after being drained financially and emotionally. "If I unchain my father and brother, they may hurt themselves or others. I had gone to the Collector with their photos hoping for some help. But the administration did not do anything about it," Dinesh said.
However, the pair is moved sometimes from a bedroom to a backyard, then brought back inside, but always kept in chains.
Dinesh insists that he has tried in the past to have his father and brother treated at government hospitals in Jabalpur and Gwalior, according to NDTV. But as funds ran out, it became difficult to hold down a job while making regular visits to doctors.
"The family had come to us for help and as they could not pay for medical treatment so we included them in the BPL list," said Rajesh Shah, a local tax collector, explaining that the categorization entitles the family to subsidies.
Since the nearest hospital where Dinesh can have his father and brother treated is 300 km away in Nagpur, the distance seems insurmountable.
Meanwhile, an NGO, named Sewa Dham, based in Ujjain in the state, has claimed that it will be sending a team on Wednesday to visit the family and help relocate the patients to its ashram.