Tumakuru: 33-year-old kept under house arrest for 10 years after mental illness

Tumakuru: In a bizzare incident, parents of a 33-year-old woman put their daughter under house arrest for 10 years claiming she was mentally ill! The victim is Lathashree, a resident of Sira taluk in Tumakuru. Surprisingly no one knew about the house arrest though Lathashree’s house is located near District In-charge Minister T.B. Jayachandra’s house in Sira town.

According to sources, Lathshree’s marriage was cancelled about 10 years ago and she had become depressed. She also fell mentally ill. Since then her stepmother Annapoornamma is said to have neglected her and, locked her in a room.

Lathashree, who studied till PU, could not oppose her parents and become helpless. Villagers said that Lathashree’s marriage was supposed to be held with a man from Tumakuru and, even the choultry Veerashaiva Kalyana Mantapa in Tumakuru was booked but cancelled for various reasons. Though her father Shivanna is alive, he failed to take care of his daughter. In fact she had to survive without proper food or drinking water.

When contacted Shivanna said: “My daughter was mentally ill, we made her go for treatment at Manasa hospital in Shivamogga. But, we lost hope of curing her illness, so we put her in a separate room and provided food to her”.

As soon as the news spread about the confined woman, State Women’s Commission chairperson Manjula visited the village and instructed Women and Children Welfare Department Director Nanjegowda to provide her treatment and admit her at ‘Sweekara Kendra’.