India, March 14 -- Noting the continued influx of mentally ill patients being brought to the Sailani Baba Dargah in Buldhana for a "divine cure" and instances of them being chained or abandoned there, the Maharashtra State Human Rights Commission (MSHRC) has directed the state government to upgrade mental healthcare facilities in the district and conduct awareness programmes to ensure such patients receive scientific treatment and their rights are protected.

The directions came in response to a suo-motu case initiated by MSHRC in 2024, after a media report revealed that hundreds of mentally ill patients, with schizophrenia, hysteria, depression and myopathies, were kept chained outside the Sailani Baba Dargah in Buldhana in the hope of a...