Mentally-ill man held for abusing people

The Bandra police took a 30-year-old man into custody under the provisions of the Mental Health Act, 1987, for ‘dangerously’ roaming on Hill Road in Bandra and abusing passers-by on Saturday night. The man belongs to a well-to-do family and his parents are settled in Dubai, said the police.

A police officer said, “We have not registered any FIR. We know he is mentally ill and will help him by getting him treated.”

In court, when the magistrate asked him his name, he replied, “Jhansi ki Rani.” He also abused the cops and others in the court. Thereafter, he was taken to Sir JJ Hospital, Byculla, for a medical check-up.

The Bandra police had received a complaint against the man earlier too. A watchman from the society he was staying in at 24th Road in Bandra had called the police after he spotted the man tearing letters delivered to the society. The man, however, did not show any signs of being a lunatic and was let go, said the police.

Days later, the Bandra police received information about a man abusing people near Bhabha hospital and found he is the same person. They went to the spot and the man started abusing them as well. He was detained as the police suspected he could “harm” others.

The police said an identity card found on him showed he belongs to a village in Kerala. His parents live in Dubai and his mother is on her way to Mumbai after receiving a call from the police.