Mentally Ill Prisoners: Indian Perspective

Mental health services in India as they exist today mostly follow the British model. Naturally, the early institutions for the mentally ill in the Indian subcontinent were greatly influenced by the ideas and concepts prevalent in England at that time. Mental asylums were built primarily to protect the community from the violent behavior of the insane and not necessarily for treatment. Accordingly, these asylums were constructed away from the towns with high fences, in buildings similar to military barracks. Their function was more custodial than curative.