A joint inspection by police and district health authorities has been planned at the Vaduthala asylum on Monday, six days after the plight of the inmates have been exposed.
The inmates of the asylum included toddlers, women with mental illness, sick and the old numbering around 300, all housed in a three-floor building. It was decided on Friday that the team would inspect the institution on Monday.
Meanwhile, it is learnt that the Social Welfare Department has recommended legal action against those running institution. It was also suggested that the asylum be closed and the inmates shifted in batches to appropriate institutions.
Inspections held earlier had revealed that inmates were locked in rooms in the three-floor apartment.
Though the woman running the institution had obtained permission for running three institutions from the Orphanage Control Board, all were found functioning from a building. The institutions didn’t possess permission for housing the mentally challenged persons, it was reported.
Majority of the inmates were non-Keralites. Sick and those with mental illness mingled freely in the floors and many inmates didn’t even have proper clothing. Some of the inmates complained that they were not given sufficient food.
The report by the Social Welfare authorities indicated that there was no sufficient bed space for the inmates and people with mental illness were admitted without obtaining the required permissions. Sane inmates had to stay with people of unsound mind.
Children below the age of six months were also found staying in the house.
