Behrampore Mental health Hospital has 466 residents in two wards each for men and women.
Shocking pictures have emerged of patients at a state-run mental hospital in West Bengal: Men and women roaming naked in unhygienic surroundings.
A mental health non-profit Anjali, which works on the patients there, made the photographs public after efforts to get better facilities failed.
Located 230 km from Kolkata, the Behrampore Mental Hospital has 466 residents in two wards each for men and women. On August 14, an Anjali official visited and saw 50-odd patients roaming without clothes.
Quoting the superintendent, Anjali founder member Ratnaboli Ray said, "He said only 5 are naked and that's because they are mentally retarded and can't keep clothes on. But inmates are saying the clothes are ridden with lice. The whole hospital is full of lice."
Ms Ray's colleague Aditi Basu, who raised the alarm on August 14, said, "The residents complained about lice in their beds, in their clothes. I saw women sitting on dirty wet floors without clothes. The toilets are horrible. And there is a smell I cannot describe."
As word of the horror emerged, a Left party, SUCI, protested outside the hospital. In the melee, some patients spoke out.
A patient, Kakoli Mandal, said, "We are kept naked. We also want to wear clean clothes. But there are lice. We want better food. But if we protest, they beat us."
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee was not available for comment, nor her junior minister for health, Dr Shashi Panja, though she has sought a report from Anjali.
"We want immediate suspension of the superintendent. Otherwise, there will only be cosmetic changes," said Ratnaboli Ray.
If action is not taken soon, the NGO said it might consider approaching court. There are five state-run mental homes in Bengal. Anjali works in three. Behrampore, they say, is among the worst.