An 80-year-old man suffering from mental illness has spent nearly four decades chained in the veranda of a storage shed at his family home in Kaliganj upazila of Lalmonirhat, highlighting the challenges of mental healthcare and long-term caregiving in rural Bangladesh.
Shafiqul Islam, a resident of Latabar village under Chandrapur Union, has reportedly been confined with shackles for around 40 years after developing severe mental illness in the later years of his youth. Family members say he was once a hardworking farmer who built up significant agricultural land and supported his wife and four children through farming.
According to relatives and local residents, his condition gradually worsened despite initial treatment from traditional healers and later medical care at Rangpur Medical College Hospital and the Pabna Mental Hospital. After doctors reportedly advised that no further improvement was likely, the family brought him home and has kept him restrained ever since, saying they fear he may wander away or become violent if left unrestrained.
Shafiqul now lives alone on the open veranda of a small storehouse about 50 yards from the family's main residence, where he eats, sleeps, and attends to his daily needs. His eldest son regularly provides him with food, helps him bathe, and cleans the area. Family members say attempts to keep him inside the house or provide items such as mosquito nets or fans have failed because he destroys them during episodes of agitation.
His wife, Maleka Begum, said the family exhausted its financial resources trying to obtain treatment and could not sell his land because of legal restrictions related to his mental condition. She acknowledged the hardship of seeing her husband live in such circumstances but said the family has been unable to find a safer alternative.
His eldest daughter, Rehana Begum, a union parishad reserved-seat member, echoed the family's account, saying her father has remained in chains since she was a child and that financial constraints prevented continued treatment.
Local Union Parishad member Amir Hamza described the situation as inhumane but said the family lacks the means to manage his condition without restraints. He called for advanced psychiatric treatment and greater institutional support to help families caring for people with severe mental illness.
The case has drawn attention to the limited availability of long-term mental healthcare services in rural Bangladesh and the difficult choices faced by families caring for relatives with severe psychiatric disorders.
