Following the displeasure shown by the Supreme Court over the chaining of mentally-ill persons in a faith-based mental asylum here, the district administration freed 22 persons on Saturday and handed them over to their family members.
Senior Superintendent of Police Ashok Kumar said, "In pursuance of the recent Supreme Court observations, the district administration and police reached the faith-based mental asylum on Friday night and freed 22 mentally-ill patients who were kept in chains. They were then handed over to their family members."
Sub-Divisional Magistrate (Sadar) Paras Nath Maurya said, "In accordance with local belief, a number of mentally-ill patients reach here. The patients (in the name of divine treatment) are kept in chains, so that they cannot run away."