Woman Forcibly Placed in Mental Hospital

Natia Danelishvili, Information Center of Kakheti

The Human Rights Center protests placement of 45-year-old N.K. in mental hospital. Police took the disabled woman to mental hospital by force based on the application of people living in her house though she did not create problems for anybody.

Neighbors of N.K. said the resident of their village Gocha R moved to her house with his family five years ago; consequently, the owner of the house had permanent conflict with them.

“N.K had serious stress at the age of 17 and consequently she had health problems though never bothered other people. Often she was hungry but never bothered anybody. She has a flat in Rustavi too and spends most time there. Her house in the village was robbed several times, so her brother, who has been living abroad for many years already, offered a strange person Gocha R. to live in their house together with his family. After those people moved to her house, they have had conflict. N asked them to leave her house because they caused mess in the house. She did not want strangers in her house and she was right. Moreover, the boarders permanently had guests. Friends visit Gocha, they drank and make noise and N could not stand their behavior. She categorically requested the boarders to leave her house. She asked police for help several times but nobody paid attention to her. Finally, Gocha got advantage of the situation, filed complaint to the police which was signed by five neighbors, his friends where he wrote N. K is crazy, she is dangerous for people and requested to place her in mental hospital,” a neighbor of N. K told the ICK.

Gurjaani police officers took N.K out of her house by force.

“She did not want to go. She resisted the police officers. She was telling them she was not a crazy, those people just wanted to get rid of her to misappropriate her house but she was pushed into the car by force. Although she has health problems, she has never harmed anybody. She used to visit neighbors and we talked; she used to help us in housework too. She was coming to my house every day. She argued with Gocha because he destroys everything in her house. We do not know where she was taken,” said neighbor Tamar S.

ICK interviewed those people who signed the request to place N. K in mental hospital.

“She has never physically abused anybody. She has never had any conflict with my family but there she will get calmer and feel better. As for the family living in her house, Gocha is not a bad person; just the opposite, he repaired her damaged house,” said Nino L.

“We were just asked to sign their petition; otherwise she has never done any harm to us. She never bothered others either. She needs medical treatment but is not dangerous. Once she went to school but children got afraid and people started complaining about it; though she had not annoyed anybody,” Tamaz D. said.

Gocha R claims that N.K threatened him and his family members. “Should not they have taken her to mental hospital before she killed a man? She permanently threatened us either with knife or with truncheon though has not harmed anybody yet. One day she acted quite normally, but next day she was screaming “leave my house.” When I came here, there was forest here; the house did not even have a fence and I made it,” said Gocha R.

ICK applied to the Gurjaani police department to find out the situation about placement N.K in mental hospital. Deputy Head of the police department Gocha Sibashvili refused us to make comments. Though, representatives of the Kakheti office of the Human Rights Center said Sibashvili had told them two days before placing the woman in the hospital that they did not intend to take her to mental hospital at all.

According to the human rights organization, if a person does not agree to take treatment in mental hospital, relatives and law enforcement bodies shall act in accordance to the Law on Psychiatric Assistance; the placement of a person in mental hospital is regulated by Article 7' Paragraph IV of the Administrative Procedural Code of Georgia.

According to the law, administration of mental hospital, where the patient is taken, shall appeal to master judge of the district court for the permission on starting medical treatment of the patient within 48 hours after what the judge passes relevant judgment.

Telavi and Gurjaani Courts state resolutions on similar cases contain personal data and cannot be published.

The Human Rights Center appeals to the Georgian Public Defender’s Office to explore the case and protect the rights of the disabled person.