Doper or Paranoid ? Know what experts say about the horrific incident of Ashmuqam

Sameer Ahmad

Anantnag ,30 December : Anantnag district of south Kashmir’s Litroo village was terrorized by a horrendous attack on 23 December, after a man turned into a monster and killed his mother and two others who got in his way. The man attacked his family members and neighbours with a wooden log killing three persons including his mother and injuring seven others in south Kashmir’s Anantnag district officials said.

In the meantime, news flashed on social media that several people were injured after a mentally unsound man had attacked them in Litroo Ashmuqam village and all the injured were referred to Seer sub hospital for first aid treatment.

Various reports stated that the man injured at least 10 people, among them his mother and two others, died in the hospital from their injuries.

‘‘The man first attacked his family members and later attacked neighbors who came to rescue them’, said his family members in a video clip that went viral on social media.

After the news went viral on social media people started to tag him as a drunkard and drug addict while some labelled him mentally challenged .and alleged him to be under influence of a faith healer

Talking to the media his family members and neighbors claimed that the man was neither unsound nor he was alcoholic.His family members said he was a devout follower of Sufi guides (peer).

A baker by profession, Javaid Ahamd Rather, was the elder of three siblings including a sister.

 He had constructed the house and was feeding the family. Family members of Rather say he was the oldest son in the family and the breadwinner. “We don’t know what happened to him to make him suddenly lose his semblance and started beating all of us, killing his mother and two neighbors.”.Rather lived with his parents, mother, father, wife, and two children; ‘Rather occasionally smoked cannabis’, his family said.

Meanwhile, the deceased were identified as Hafiza Begum (mother) of the accused, Ghulam Nabi Khadim and Mohammad Amin Shah, both neighbors. While the injured people were referred to Government Medical College Anantnag. An arrest has been made in this case and a case has been registered, reported officials in the media.

Meantime, in an interview with Arising State, a senior psychiatrist explained that these issues are not mental health issues, but could be actually caused by the use of illicit drugs.”

“It seems this person had no major mental health issues. As a matter of fact, his functioning was excellent, and it might have been cannabis usage that led him to commit such a horrendous crime,” he said.

He said that the majority of violence committed around the world is done by so-called sane people, not insane people. ”Furthermore, in my 13 years working in the mental health sector, I have never been attacked by a patient or heard of something like that happening to any of my fellows.”

Most psychiatric patients harm themselves, but sometimes things happen when they are under the influence of drugs, which is where the problems arise, he said.

The government needs to come up with a policy, we need to create facilities for such people, perhaps in all districts.

For such people, we need trained professionals, as well as protection for those who work with them.

Srinagar has a psychiatric diseases hospital; similar facilities are needed in other districts. Mental health units should be provided in all district hospitals, including GMCs, he said.