Rescued from 8-year-long captivity, Tiruvallur woman to run mobile eatery

CHENNAI: Rains in Arunmandhai village in Tiruvallur district are always beautiful. The sounds of frogs croaking and the clicking of termites, the smell of wet soil, the cold breeze carrying the smell of hot tea and coffee brewing in other houses. While for most people the climate was everything nice, for Abhaya (name changed) it was living a nightmare.

Due to her mental illness, Abhaya was forced by her father and brother to live in an asbestos shelter in her ‘home’ backyard for eight years before being rescued by Emergency Care and Recovery Centre (ECRC) in November last year. After months of physiotherapy, psychotherapy and psychiatric counselling, Abhaya’s life has gotten a new lease. The ECRC gave her a mobile eatery, Nila’s Café, to run outside their centre, on Monday.

Revaleena Rajeendran, lead at ECRC, Tiruvallur and director of Menadora Foundation, rescued Abhaya after the Sholavaram police station alerted ECRC about the case. Speaking to DT Next, she says, “The Sholavaram police station received a tip about a woman being kept in a small shed behind their house. The police went to the house and wanted to investigate the matter. But her father denied permission to search the property.

“The police got in touch with us. When we went to the scene, we found her naked in a foetal position lying on a nightie. Due to lying in a foetal position for a long time, her leg muscles lost function.”

She says Abhaya’s father and brother, who were mentally ill themselves, believed that Abhaya was cursed by black magic; while in reality, she was schizophrenic. After her mother passed away due to prolonged illness, the father-son duo decided to ‘protect’ her from the eyes of others and made a shed to isolate her.

“They gave her only one meal a day as they felt it tedious to clean her faeces and urine. When we rescued her, she repeatedly said that she wanted to be united with her mother in heaven,” she reminisces.

After the rescue, medical tests and primary care were given to her. The team noticed signs of physical and sexual abuse and wanted to get a full body check-up for which consent was required. “The police approached the father to sign the consent forms, but he denied to sign them. He also filed a complaint claiming that I kidnapped his daughter. He was relentless in ensuring the check-up didn’t happen and the police complied,” she adds.

During her stay at the ECRC, her father and brother visited her a couple of times. “After one point they just stopped showing up. With treatment, therapy and medications she is now able to take care of herself. She has come a long way from needing assistance to use the toilet to doing tasks and helping out in the ECRC kitchen on her own.

“She cooks as a salaried employee at the ECRC kitchen and is well-oriented about what she wants. She is very independent and determined. It’s really empowering to see her come so far.”

Nila’s Café will be open for business outside ECRC, Tiruvallur.