Provide treatment to Rohit Tiwari's wife for psychological problems at good hospital: Court to Tihar

A Delhi court on Wednesday directed the Tihar jail authorities to provide necessary treatment to Rohit Shekhar Tiwari's wife Apoorva Shukla, arrested in connection with his murder, at a good hospital for her psychological problems.

The court was hearing a plea that sought directions for Shukla's immediate treatment at a hospital where doctors have the required expertise to treat her serious psychological problems which include depression and sleep disorder.

Additional Sessions Judge Sandeep Yadav asked the Jail Superintendent to provide treatment to her at a facility other than the jail dispensary and Deen Dayal Upadhyay Hospital (DDU) Hospital considering the fact that her psychological problems required proper treatment.

The Tihar prison authorities told the court in their reply that she was already undergoing treatment from a psychiatrist in the jail.

They said she was undergoing psycho-therapy sessions in the jail for her problems like inability to control her anger, poor quality of sleep, bad dreams.

She had her last session with a psychiatrist on January 27, the Tihar authorities said in their reply.

The plea was filed by advocate Mehmood Pracha, who is representing Shukla. Pracha told the court that Shukla's condition was at the "threshold" stage, which if allowed to become severe, she would not be able to recover from it.

"Her symptoms are serious in nature. She might be suffering from bipolar disorder (mental health condition that causes extreme mood swings that include emotional highs and lows). She is already suffering from depression. Her condition is becoming worse day-by-day. If this crosses the boundary, it would be a point of no return," the counsel said.

He claimed that Shukla was not getting proper treatment from the jail doctors or at the DDU Hospital.

Pracha said Shukla should be allowed to consult doctors at AIIMS or any good hospital. "Only a handful of doctors in the country have the expertise to treat this disorder. We are just asking for a consultation, not her bail," he said.

He added that the doctors were giving her sedatives, which she is denying. "Sedatives are not the medicines for her condition," the lawyer said.

Shukla, a lawyer, was arrested on April 26 last year on charges of Tiwari's murder.

Rohit Shekhar, the son of the late veteran politician N D Tiwari, was smothered to death on the intervening night of April 15 and 16, an autopsy report had said.