The thought of any human being tied down, restrained, is a thing of nightmares and horror films, perhaps worst of all when it is a child.
But what of cases where it’s done for their own safety? While awareness of psychological and neurological conditions is much more widespread now, and helpful resources to aid those who suffer is easily accessible on the internet, as recently as the 1980s there were cases where perhaps the best one could do is keep the sufferer safe from physical harm.
The Fiji Times of Wednesday April 7, 1982, reported on the case of a child who was tied down for bedtime every night for over two years.
“Medical experts from all over Suva went to the Samabula Old People’s Home yesterday to look into the plight of 11-year-old Sujit Kumar, who has been tied up for 2½ years,” the report said.
Acting Director for Social Welfare at the time, Mr James Vir, said they “agreed unanimously” that everything possible was being done for the boy.
Mr Vir said that even in the most advanced countries people with severe mental problems were chained to prevent them from harming themselves.
Mr Vir said Sujit had been placed in the home in November of 1979, because there were no other facilities to cater for a case of his type.
“On admission the child showed most unusual behaviour,” Mr Vir said.
“He could not speak, he was severely withdrawn, and had extremely poor response to stimuli.
“He was unable to differentiate between food and filth, soil, stone and other dirty objects, to the extent that he would even eat filth and scatter it around people.
“It was also difficult to restrain him from running wildly thereby causing harm to himself and others.”
Mr Vir said every effort had been made to teach the boy to behave like any other child his age.
But attempts were so unsuccessful that it apparently became necessary to restrain him.
“For several months we tried to restrain him by putting a harness on him, but this was of no avail.
“Eventually there was no alternative but to tie him with a piece of cloth.
“Restraining him by tying him may appear abhorrent but this measure is only in the child’s own interest. Mr Vir said the only other practical means of handling such a case would be to place him in a padded room.
“But because he has lacked in his early life proper care and parental love, it would be highly undesirable to put him in solitary confinement.
“He needs to relate to people, be exposed to normal stimulation if there is any hope of ever improving his condition and behaviour.”
Mr Vir said that since Sujit had been at the home, there had been some improvement in his behaviour.
