Mayadevi Bhattrai is an illiterate housewife living in Chitwan district. There are four members in her family—a husband and two sons. Her husband and sons are suffering from a severe form of mental illness. Mayadevi is looking after her family members, in addition to her daily work as a wage labourer. According to the news report, she has already spent Rs 1 million for the treatment of her family members. The treatment and household costs add up to around Rs 800 per day. For any unemployed, and even an employed Nepali, person, this is a huge amount of money. t is not only the economic hardship which bedevils Mayadevi. She is also socially excluded from her community. No one, not even her closest relatives, visits her family. Her house is stigmatised as a house of ‘mad persons’.
Posted on: Fri, 04 Oct 2013 11:39:58 +0000