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The Andhra Murders and The Mental Health Connection

Written By: Tasneem Akbari Kutubuddin
February 2, 2021
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The tragic killing of two young women in Andhra Pradesh by their highly educated parents shook the country last week. As days pass and the police probe continues, fresh revelations are coming to the fore about the murders of two sisters by their parents in Madanapalli in Chittor district of Andhra Pradesh. 

The accused parents have been identified as Purushotham, a vice-principal of a government college, and Padamja a gold medallist in mathematics.

Unfolding of events in the Andhra Murders case

Deeply spiritual people, the couple bludgeoned the daughters with dumbbells and Trishul as they wanted to “appease supernatural forces”. The couple was followers of Mehar Baba, Sai Baba, and Rajaneesh or Osho. They regularly used to visit Shirdi. 

The older daughter Alekhya was 27-years-old. She worked as a forest officer. She returned home during the coronavirus pandemic and was preparing for the civil services examination. The younger daughter Sai Divya was 23-years-old and had completed her post-graduation in business administration (MBA) and was pursuing a course in music.

chittoor sisters double murders
Sisters Alekhya and Sai Divya

According to neighbours and colleagues, Purushotham’s family was deeply superstitious. The family had remained isolated since the pandemic set in. Even domestic workers were not allowed inside the house. 

The couple murdered the older daughter after a puja and then killed the younger daughter. The mother felt that there was evil inside her younger daughter’s head and so she broke it open. Later the vice-principal called one of his co-workers and informed him about the murders who alerted the police. On arrival the police found the couple in a state of trance and told the police that their daughters would come alive after some time and to not interfere in the ritual.

While one would wonder how such educated people could fall prey to such superstitions and malpractices to the extent of murdering their own offsprings, mental health professionals believe that this is ‘a brain disease and can happen to anybody.’

“The delusional parents is what severe untreated mental illness, unfortunately, looks like sometimes”, says Psychiatrist Anirudh Kala.

“These are cases of what the French call Folie-deux or shared psychosis. In this case, probably the mother is the primary patient who has either Schizophrenia or Bipolar disorder with psychosis. Typically the person who ‘ catches’ the delusion secondarily is emotionally dependent on the ‘primary’ patient and starts sharing his/her world view.”

Shared psychotic disorder (Folie a deux) is an unusual mental disorder characterized by sharing a delusion among two or more people who are in a close relationship. The (inducer, primary) who has a psychotic disorder with delusions influences another individual or more (induced, secondary) with a specific belief. It commonly presents among two individuals, but in rare cases can include larger groups, i.e., family and called folie a famille.

Source

Insanity or unflinching devotion?

The social media posts of Alekhya suggested that she was attracted to Osho and his teachings. She also claimed that she brought her pet dog to life after killing it.

Social media posts of the deceased elder daughter Alekhya suggests that she was a big fan of late spiritual guru Osho and strongly believed in rebirth and salvation.

In some of her posts, Alekhya had described herself as an ‘Osho lover’ and a ‘dhyani’, according to a media report.

The girl’s other social media posts also give credibility to the theory that she went into a spiritual trance and believed in salvation which resulted in her and her sister’s murder by their parents. 

 ‘I Am Shiva’, Claims Andhra Parent Accused of Killing Daughters, appears delusional.

Where does one draw the line between superstition and religious/spiritual beliefs?

“The tragedy which destroyed a whole family was wholly avoidable if treatment had been instituted at any point in time”, says Dr. Anirudh. “Part of treatment is to separate the two delusional sharers. The ‘secondary’ patient recovers fast sometimes even without treatment. This seems to be already happening with the husband. Unfortunately the worst for the couple is yet to come when they recover and are hit by the enormous guilt over what they have done.”

Alas we still struggle with acceptance of mental illness and access to mental health treatments. Some religious beliefs are so deeply rooted in superstitions and blind faith over religious godmen that we cannot separate it from logic and fail to use our reasoning. But the religious aspect was only a part of it. The larger problem here was the delusion the parents suffered from. 

“In an ideal world they would be acquitted on grounds of mental illness but that is unlikely given the lack of sensitivity of the system and our archaic law about the culpability of the mentally ill. But in an ideal world, they would have been diagnosed and treated and none of it would have happened.”

andhra murderschittoor double murdermental healthmental illnessmental wellnessParental Problems

Tasneem Akbari Kutubuddin

Tasneem Akbari Kutubuddin has done her masters in Journalism & Communication and has worked as a senior journalist, editor and columnist for leading publications like The Logical Indian, Deccan Chronicle, Worldwide Media Corporation, The Bridge and Provoke.
With Infano, she hopes to create more awareness about women’s health issues. Suffering with Fibromyalgia, a chronic pain condition, she has also been advocating for its awareness through media.

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Infano Care

Breastfeeding: A Site Of Objectification?

Written By: Misha
March 20, 2022 | 12:45 PM |
863

Highlights

  • Are public spaces accessible to breastfeeding mothers?
  • A lactating mother felt ‘uncomfortable’ breastfeeding her child in public.
  • Uncomfortable, embarrassed, vulnerable! But why is it a site of objectification? 
  • It is rare to find nursing rooms in public spaces where a woman can breastfeed.

 

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A woman felt uncomfortable about doing nothing more than feeding her baby. Public places are immensely crowded, with people pushing each other, being stared at and harassed. This ordeal doesn’t have much comfort to offer. In addition, it is rare to find nursing rooms in public spaces where a woman can breastfeed her child without the stares of objectification. The scorn of society is not the sole reason for the barrier in breastfeeding in public spaces. Lack of hygiene, no facilities of nursing rooms are among the other reasons which make the environment far from encouraging to protect the right of a child to be breastfed irrespective of where they are. Instead of misogynistic attempts to shame the natural act of feeding babies let’s ensure to normalize the gaze with which the society views the act of breastfeeding and work on providing well maintained accessible for all spaces free from intrusion at workplaces, malls, metro stations, railway stations and other public spaces for women to nurse their child without the fear of objectification or public glare. Let’s ensure no lactating mother gets directed towards the toilets to feed their babies.

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“Next station is Rajiv Chowk. Change here for the blue line. Doors will open on the right. Please mind the gap.” 

It was during one of my morning metro rides. As soon as the door of the metro closed, a woman came running from the general coach. She seemed in a hurry. But more than her swing of motion toward the moving train, what caught everyone’s attention was her little baby draped in her dupatta crying his throat out. 

She came to the women’s coach and sat next to me. And started breastfeeding her child instantaneously. The crying voice ceased just seconds after. Well, she answered the unasked questions pointed to her with many women gazing at her. She said, “I felt uncomfortable there” and smiled. 

Breastfeeding In Public Is Uncomfortable

She felt uncomfortable about doing nothing more than feeding her baby. 

Uncomfortable, embarrassed, vulnerable! Breastfeeding in public is a barrier to breastfeeding in general. But why is it a site of objectification? How society perceives the act of breastfeeding is a question of concern.

The Infant and Young Child Feeding Guidelines 2016 (IYCFG, drafted by the Indian Academy of Pediatrics (Indian Pediatrics 2016) states:

“Nursing in Public (NIP): Mothers should feel comfortable to nurse in public. All efforts should be taken to remove hurdles impeding breastfeeding in public places. Special areas/rooms shall be identified/ constructed or established in places like bus stands, railway stations, airports, etc.”

Public places are immensely crowded, with people pushing each other, being stared at, and harassed. This ordeal doesn’t have much comfort to offer. In addition, it is rare to find nursing rooms in public spaces where a woman can breastfeed her child without the stares of objectification. 

From a woman being mocked by a fellow employee in Kolkata for breastfeeding her child in the office to a magazine receiving flak for featuring a model posing like she was breastfeeding – it is unfortunate and illogically unsettling how so many people still consider breastfeeding a stigma and view the process as mere sexualization, exclusive for gaze.

There are no laws in India that prohibit breastfeeding in public. However, the environment is not conducive to a breastfeeding mother either in a metro or at the workplace? 

This raises concerns about the social conditioning and unavailability of proper infrastructure in public spaces, including malls, metro stations, railway stations, bus terminals, airports for breastfeeding mothers. 

The World Health Organization recommends exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months. The WHO also states within its guidelines:

Men Stare, So Do Women

The scorn of society is not the sole reason for the barrier in breastfeeding in public spaces. Lack of hygiene, no facilities of nursing rooms are among the other reasons which make the environment far from encouraging to protect the right of a child to be breastfed irrespective of where they are. 

Michelle Branch, an American singer, recently took to her social media after getting flak by another mother for breastfeeding in public. Branch wrote, “I am in shock that this kind of judgment was coming from a fellow mom!”

I just got shamed by another mother (who was holding her own young infant!) for nursing my 6 week old baby on a bench at a playground while my toddler was playing 🤯 She said I wasn’t “being modest” I am in shock that this kind of judgement was coming from a fellow mom!

— Michelle Branch (@michellebranch) March 15, 2022

Well, it is ironic that you’ll find a smoking room around different public spaces, but rarely you would find a nursing room to breastfeed a child.

The concerning thing is the fact, in 2022, women aren’t able to enjoy the freedom to breastfeed in peace. The possibility of being stared at, photographed, and harassed grips the basic fact of life. 

According to the survey conducted by Mompresso.com, a user-generated platform for Moms, 93% of lactating mothers feel uncomfortable in public because of a lack of breastfeeding facilities. 

No Space For Breastfeeding In Public

Shaili (name changed), a resident of Delhi, says, “I felt extremely uncomfortable breastfeeding in public during the first few months. I was directed to the washroom. We wouldn’t want to eat in a freaking public toilet, so why do many think it’s okay to tell a mother to breastfeed their child in a stinking toilet where they themselves wouldn’t eat?”

Pallavee, an IT professional with a leading firm in Gurugram, says, “I have breastfed my child in public parks, toilets, malls, restaurants, and trains. I was nervous when I had to nurse in public, surrounded by glares. I will never understand why breastfeeding in public is shamed upon. There are no places where I can breastfeed peacefully. I gotta feed my baby.”

“I do not attract anyone’s gaze while I breastfeed my child,” said one respondent.

As of now, there is no law in the country which mandates public spaces to have lactation rooms. If metro stations had a nursing room, we, as a society, normalize breastfeeding and not stare when a woman breast-feeds. It could have enabled that lady on the train and many more like her to take care of her infant without panicking and rushing to avoid the stares of objectification.  

We need society and laws to build a more empowering and accessible environment for lactating mothers and build necessary infrastructure which is clean and safe for a mother to breastfeed their child.

Let’s Support Nursing Mothers!

Larissa Waters, an Australian MP, made international headlines in 2017 when she breastfed her 14-week-old baby while addressing the nation’s parliament. Her gesture is a clear representation of how rarely there have been talks about breastfeeding in public.

Larissa Waters, Australian senator, breastfeeding her baby, while addressing the Parliament.
Source: YouTube screengrab

Babies need to be fed. Let’s be more empathetic and make it better for them without making them feel unnerved. The feeling of humankind should incite compassion and not oppose or associate accusations of indecency with breastfeeding.

Instead of misogynistic attempts to shame the natural act of feeding babies, let’s ensure to normalize the gaze with which the society views the act of breastfeeding and work on providing well maintained accessible for all spaces, free from intrusion at workplaces, malls, metro stations, railway stations and other public spaces for women to nurse their children without the fear of public glare. 

Let’s ensure no lactating mother gets directed towards the toilet to feed their babies. Let’s not objectify a mother’s choice – the next time!

Also Read: Placenta: The Life Supporting Organ

breastfeedingBreastfeeding in publicLactationLactation daysMomlifeNormalise breastfeedingObjectification of breastfeeding

Misha

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