Thane: Mental hospital patient kills another with spoon

Horror ensued at the Thane Municipal Hospital (TMH) on Tuesday morning after a psychologically ill patient murdered another by repeatedly striking him with an aluminum spoon. The Wagale Estate police have registered a murder case against the accused.

However, they will finish the case after taking a copy of the medical certificate of the accused, since the police have decided to not subject the accused to a criminal trial or imprisonment. The incident occurred at 5 am in Ward no 18, when attendant Prasad Nikumb was serving tea to the patients. The ward houses 55 chronically ill patients suffering from various psychological illnesses.

The accused - a 38-year-old patient - killed a 40-year-old patient who had come to wake him up, by smashing his head using an aluminum spoon, which is used for serving tea. Ashok Kshirsagar, senior police inspector at Wagale Estate police station said, "The blow was so powerful that the 40-year-old patient ended up losing a lot of blood. He was declared dead by doctors before he could be admitted to the Thane Civil Hospital."

He added, "We have registered a case against the accused under Section 302 (murder) of the Indian Penal Code. But, we will collect the medical certificate of the accused and record statements of the witnesses, including the attendant and finish the investigation."

Meanwhile, Rajendra Shirsat, superintendent of TMH said, "We have set up a committee to look into the matter to check if any negligence was caused by anybody." Following the incident, the accused will be shifted to another ward.

The second incident
Fights between patients in TMH seem to have become a common scenario. On August 28, this paper had reported on a stabbing incident, where a patient stabbed another man after he denied tobacco to him (‘Patient stabbed at Thane Mental Hospital over tobacco').

TMH is a 1,850-bed hospital that houses around 1,550 psychological patients. The hospital, located at Dharamveer Nagar in Thane is one of the biggest in the state. The High Court has also suggested several steps to the TMH to be taken for sanitary practice, good hygiene, nutritious diet and proper care of patients.