Following recovery from mental illness Vishwas returns to his family

Report and Picture by Prakash Katapadi
Bellevision Media Network

Shankarpura, 28 June 2010: Eighteen years old Vishwas Kini who was an inmate of the ‘Vishwasada Mane’ (Home of Hope) at Shankarpura since the last two years and was suffering from mental illness is said to have been completely cured and was reunited with his family. 

According to reports, Vishwas Kini (the name mentioned by the youth) hailed from a village near Honnavara. Two years earlier he was found wandering and was located at Salmara bus stop near Shankarpura. With the help of nearby people he was admitted to the ‘Vishwasada Mane’ at Shankarpura.

In two years, due to the care taken by the volunteers of the shelter and the treatment given to him, Vishwas  recovered fully and  expressed a desire to return to his home. Recalling his past he said that two years ago he had come to see Udupi with his brother, but was lost. According to the account given by Vishwas, his father, Vaman Kini was running a hotel at Hubli but died suddenly and his mother Padma left Hubli and came and settled down at Idigunji along with the children. He further informed  that he had studied up to SSLC at  Hosuru Hubli Zilla Panchayat School. However, he left the school as he failed in SSLC. He also claimed that he has a sister named Shwetha. However, he could neither  correctly give his home address or telephone number.

Vishwas has been expressing a desire to return to his native village in Honnavar. With whatever information was available, Director of the ‘Vishwasada Mane’, Pastor Sunil John D’Souza had been   making all arrangements to reunite Vishwas with his family. On Sunday, 20th June 2010, Pastor Sunil John D’Souza along with Mr. Leeladhar Shetty, a social worker of Kaup, Babu Mathew Castelino and few journalists accompanied Vishwas to his village Karakurva near Honnavar and met the uncle of Vishwas, Raghupati Kini and his son Chandrahasa who received Vishwas into their family as his mother is said to have been admitted to an Ashram in Bangalore. They were quite happy to notice that Vishwas had completely recovered from his mental illness after two years of his stay at the ‘Vishwasada Mane’.

According to Acharya Ramesh Bhat, the priest in the village temple, Vishwas was afflicted with mental illness and was found to be violent and had bouts of shivering. He used to attack boys and even girls when he was affected by the illness. However, when he met him on 20th June 2010, he found him to be quite normal. 

When contacted, Pastor Sunil John D’Souza expressed happiness that Vishwas could rejoin his uncle’s family after being completely recovered from the mental illness being in the ‘Vishwasada Mane’ for about two years. Earlier Bellevision had published a report of another inmate of the ‘Vishwasada Mane’, Kaushalya from Maharashtra who was taken back home by her father Shankar Tukram Patole after her recovery from mental illness.