Mental patient beaten into coma

What was perceived as a solution for the Malaidze family in sending their son to Zomba Mental Hospital for rehabilitation turned out to be their worst nightmare.

Now lying motionless at home, Tontho, the second born son of the Mchinji-based family, was beaten at the mental facility and slipped into a coma.

The dream of this otherwise affable former Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources (Luanar) student, with no known record of violence, seems to be shattered.

The 37-year-old was physically sound prior to being sent to the facility, but is now forced to wear diapers since he has lost control  of  his body.

And to make matters worse, his mother, Tammy, a retired civil servant, has to take care of her sick father as well.

“He [Tontho] can barely do anything from eating, going to the toilet and taking a bath,” said Tammy.

In a 28-minute telephone interview on Wednesday, Tammy said Tontho was born sane and attended William Murray Secondary School, University of Livingstonia and Luanar.

She said Tontho’s mental health relapses started while in second year at Luanar. She said this led the family to take him to Saint John of God Lilongwe Centre where he was in rehabilitation for six weeks.

But several months after he was discharged, the family observed that his mental state was still not fully recovered. That is when they sent him to Zomba Mental Hospital in September 2023.

According to the mother, Tontho’s mental health started to improve and he often talked to her on the phone with the assitance of the facility’s management.

Tammy said the conversations she had with Tontho pointed that  he was making progress.

“But on November 2 2023 around midnight, I received a phone call from Zomba Mental Hospital that Tontho was in the ICU [Intensive Care Unit]. I was told that he was involoved in a fight with other mental patients,” she said.

The mother, however, did not buy this narrative.

The following morning, she started off for Zomba Central Hospital where she found her b son on oxygen  but with his body strapped to the hospital bed.

Strangely, his body had sores all over with apparent cuts in his head.

For about a month, Tammy slept in the corridors of the ICU taking care of her son. But towards end of November, doctors said they would perform a procedure on Tontho’s neck to facilitate breathing and feeding since they had to allocate the oxygen machine to another patient.

By then, Tontho had partly gained consciousness and could mumble some words.

“Once the procedure was performed, we asked for a transfer to Mchinji considering that there were no relations in Zomba,” she said.

What broke her heart, however, was that Zomba Mental Hospital staff visited only once, but could not properly explain what happened to Tontho, only apologizing for what had happened to her son.

When they transferred to Mchinji District Hospital, they only spent a day in admission before getting discharged. But despite the discharge, Tontho remains in a ‘cabbage’ state and is confined to a wheelchair and bed.

“When he [Tontho] speaks, he asks why his friends walk and yet he can’t. At times, he cries out loud. This breaks my heart and I cry too,” said Tammy.

Nation on Sunday, based on interviews with affected families, has established that this is not an  isolated case.

“That place is pathetic. I nearly lost my nephew who was beaten. Unfortunately, they [facility’s management] don’t clearly explain what happens,” said Nomsa Malamula from Domasi in Zomba.

Kenneth Tafadala from Namadzi in Chiradzulu District also alleged that his cousin was beaten at Zomba Mental Hospital, but management could not offer concise explanations.

He alleged that the facility’s personnel took part in the beating. Nation on Sunday could, however, not independently verify these allegations.

But in an interview on Thursday, Zomba Mental Hospital spokesperson Harry Kawiya, could neither confirm nor deny the allegations.

He said amid such allegations, an independent investigation by interested stakeholders would be important to ascertain whether such things do occur.

However, Kawiya said fights among patients do take place. He said most fights are caused by violent patients mainly due to hallucinations.

He said: “Before we take in mental patients, we do background checks on them to assess the level of risk either to other patients or themselves. If we establish that the particular patients are a risk to other patients or themselves, we keep them under strict surveillance.”

Kawiya, therefore, said through such surveillance, the facility tries its best to quell fights and other violent scenarios from happening. Nonetheless, he said the facility shares the pain that relations feel when their loved ones are harmed.

Allegations that personnel abuse patients have since compelled taxpayer-funded Malawi Human Rights Commission (MHRC) to institute a probe.

MHRC director of disability and elderly rights Wycliffe Masoo on Wednesday said the investigations, which will begin soon, are within the institution’s mandate.

“As a commission, we are planning to take up the matter first by way of investigations, at an opportune time; we may call individuals to provide evidence of these allegations. We will also engage authorities where necessary.”

Health and Rights Education Programme executive director Maziko Matemba in a separate interview said there is need to ensure health rights of mental patients are protected at all times.

Human Rights Consultative Committee executive director Robert Mkwezalamba said the government needs to do due diligence and assess performance of personnel at the facility in terms of how they handle mental patients amid the violent acts and alleged abuse.

He said: “Anybody who understands the plight of these patients knows that there is supposed to be care and consideration.”

When contacted, Eastern Region Police spokesperson Patrick Mussa said they have not received complaints on alleged abuse. He, however, acknowledged that they have gotten wind of the allegations, but could not act without an official complaint.

In 2022, Zomba Mental Hospital was under the spotlight following bizarre deaths of four patients.

The facility like Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital, Zomba Central Hospital, Kamuzu Central Hospital and Mzuzu Central Hospital, is a referral but for mental health patients.

The other facility that handles mental cases is Saint John of God, a private hospital.