The house from where Sangeeta was rescued on Tuesday. Picture by Ranjeet Kumar Dey

Patna, June 14: For seven long years she was confined in her own house, devoid of life, air, mandatory medicines and, at times, even food.

Sangeeta Kumari, now 28, was mentally disturbed. Instead of helping Sangeeta, her mother locked her in a room, denying her food and medicine whenever she was irritated by her daughter.

The seven-year-long trauma ended today and finally some help came her way when a social welfare group rescued her from her rented house.

She was 14 years old when she could not clear her Class X examinations at Bankipore Girls’ High School. The shock was too much for a young Sangeeta and she soon became a victim of depression.

It was after this that she started behaving abnormally — remaining quiet at times and acting strangely otherwise.

For the first few years she received medical help. However, in 2004 all that stopped. Her mother, Malti Devi, apparently frustrated, stopped all treatment as she was not responding to the medicines well.

Devi was superstitious too. She would lock up her daughter and deny her medicine and even food. And if Sangeeta got violent, this would continue for long.

Her father, Rajkumar Yadav, now a retired serviceman from the All India Radio could do very little. He said his wife was very dominating and his words hardly had any effect on her.

“Almost a month ago, I read the story of Sujata and Babu, the brother-sister duo who got themselves locked up for two years, being rescued by a social welfare group. This incident gave me some confidence and strength and I contacted Prayas Bharti Trust, the same organisation, for help. They welcomed me. Several years ago, I had approached the police, but my words were not heard,” Rajkumar said.

The family, consisting of two daughters, a son and their parents, has been living on rent in a four-storeyed house belonging to one Tejan Gope in the Bengali Akhara area under the Kadamkuan police station, for more than 15 years now.

The family occupies four rooms on the first floor of the house.

Sangeeta’s elder brother Manish Rai and sister Kavita are married and stay with their families at different places. Only Sangeeta and her parents were staying at the house.

“My wife herself began having some mental problems from 2003 and the trouble increased after that. She refused to listen to anyone, including me. Sangeeta’s medicines were thrown away and she used to be kept locked in a room for days. I tried to stop her, but in vain. Soon she started having other health complications but my wife was adamant. Even I was threatened. She became very superstitious and would do strange things to her. She poured ice-cold water on her during winters and also kept her without food,” the father said.

The girl, who was quiet most of the times except for murmuring a bit at times, was brought to Patna Medical College Hospital (PMCH) for treatment after being rescued. After initial check ups, she was taken to the psychiatry department of the hospital.

Suman Lal of the Prayas Bharti Trust, who played a vital role in getting the girl out said they had started to act as soon as the father contacted them. “We contacted the district magistrate and the Patna senior superintendent of police who helped us a lot. With the help of the Kadamkuan police, the girl was brought out of the house and was taken to the PMCH,” she said.

PMCH sources said though the girl was physically “okay”, she had traces of schizophrenia, which needed to be treated.

The police said investigations needed to be properly conducted in this case.

“At this moment, the police cannot state anything concrete. Even the mother of the girl appears to be mentally unwell. She was heavily into all kinds of superstitions. We got the orders from the DM’s office and acted accordingly. We took the help of the women constables. A lot of things need to be taken into consideration in this case,” an officer of the Kadamkuan police station told The Telegraph.

The father said he just wished that his daughter would be fine. “Now that she is out, I want her to get fully cured and start living a normal life again. I am praying for the same,” he said.

On May 16 this year, Sujata and Babu, a brother-sister duo was rescued in a similar fashion after they locked themselves in their Shivpuri home. Sujata, also a patient of schizophrenia, had locked up the brother and herself. This happened after the family faced a lot of serious calamities including the disappearance of their mother and sister and the death of another brother.