Unable to take care of a 17-year-old mentally affected boy and find a suitable place to admit him, his mother and brother were in tears as they patiently waited for the District Collector at the collectorate here on Wednesday to grant him euthanasia (painless killing of patient suffering from incurable or painful disease or irreversible coma).
His mother G. Manimekalai (38) of Teppakulam Maidanam in the city said that she and her sons G. Gautham (23) and G. Jayaganesh (17) are living with her aged parents Rajagopal and Kalavathi, since her husband Gnanasekar died about 13 years ago. She claimed that they were unable to take care of Jayaganesh.
She said that the boy used to go to a special school during his early days. But over the years the family has been having issues taking care of him. “I cannot go to work as I have to take care of him. My parents do mirror works and the boy damages them. At times he used to turn violent and causes lot of inconveniences at home,” she said.
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Manimekalai said that the family has tried its best to take care of him but the boy used to often shout and neighbours who are unable to bear it have complained to their house owners, forcing them to change four houses in as many years. “Even now our landlord has asked us to vacate but nobody is renting their house to us,” she said.
Gautham, who works as a salesman in a textile outlet, said that he often gets a call from home asking him to come home to control his brother when he gets violent. “Despite being a diploma graduate I am unable to go to work in a suitable place, because I have to go home to handle my brother,” he said.
The boy is said to be under medication for about a decade and the family claims to have taken him to many homes for such children in Coimbatore, Trichy, Aranthangi, Mayiladuthurai, Palani and Pollachi, but they did not accept him as he could not manage his day-to-day activities.
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“Earlier this year we took him to the government mental health hospital at Kilpauk. He was recovering there but the hospital asked us to take him back after two months. There are patients who are getting treated there for years together,” the brother said and added that they either want the government to admit him in that hospital or a suitable home or grant euthanasia.