Savithri, ragging victim who gouged out her eye, dies after three decades in rehab

Kasaragod: Savithri Mundavalappil (45), a pre-degree student who descended into depression and gouged out her right eye after being ragged in college, died on Monday, March 17, after spending 30 years in various rehabilitation centres.

She died of cardiac arrest at the Kasaragod District Hospital in Kanhangad, said Clint Joseph, her long-time counsellor and psychologist at Snehalaya Psycho-Social Rehabilitation Centre in Manjeshwar.

Savithri is survived by her mother, Mundavalappil Vattichi (73), a daily-wage labourer, and three elder sisters — Shantha, Thankamani, and Sukumari — who roll beedis for the Kerala Dinesh Beedi Workers' Central Co-operative Society. Her father, Palathera Ambu, died when Savithri was an infant.

In 1995, when she passed Class 10 with First Class, Savithri was the pride of her village, Vengat, in Cheruvathur Grama Panchayat. Her teachers at the Government High School, Kuttamath, believed she would one day lift her family out of poverty.

The girl who loved to sing and dance — and won prizes at School Kalolsavam — believed it too. She dreamt of becoming a doctor. "Amme (mother), a better time will come for us. A good house will be built. There will be a doctor in the Mundavalappil house," she would often tell Vattichi.

Vattichi believed her youngest daughter had it in her but tempered her dreams. If not a doctor, at least a teacher — she quietly hoped. Savithri got admission to the science stream at Nehru Arts and Science College in Kanhangad. No one in her family had come this far.

But that was the beginning of the end. On her first day at college, seniors — mostly male students — allegedly ragged her. It rattled her. The harassment continued the next day, and the day after. "On the third day, she came home and announced she would never return to college," said her niece, Saneesha M V, daughter of Shantha. That day, she returned with her 'pothichor' — lunch pack — untouched.

Savithri locked herself in and never opened her books again. "No one in the family knows exactly what happened, only that she was ragged in the college," said Saneesha.

One afternoon, when Savithri did not respond to repeated calls for lunch, her niece went to check on her. What she saw left her frozen in terror. Savithri’s hands were soaked in blood, and her right eye was dislodged from its socket. She had used a pair of scissors — typically used to clip beedis — to gouge her eye out.

The niece’s scream pierced the air. People from the neighbourhood rushed in and took Savithri to the hospital. The injury to her eye was treated, but her mental health was neglected. Over time, her depression escalated into bipolar affective disorder, said Clint Joseph. "Psychiatrists at our rehabilitation centre diagnosed her with command hallucination — a type of auditory hallucination in which she heard voices instructing her to harm herself," he said.

By then, Savithri was back living at home, gripped by psychosis. In 2010, Malayala Manorama reported on her condition and the absence of proper mental health care. "The Human Rights Commission took note of the report. The government responded, and on the fifth day, she was moved to the Mental Health Centre in Kozhikode," said Prasanan, the newspaper’s reporter in Cheruvathur.

From there, she was shifted between mental health facilities, including Oolampara in Thiruvananthapuram. Four-and-a-half years ago, the Social Justice Department brought her to Snehalaya in Manjeshwar, said Joseph Crasta, the centre’s founder. "When she arrived, her condition was chronic. She had lost awareness of herself and needed help with even the simplest daily routines," he said.

With medication and routine, she became functional. "She participated in activities, engaged with other inmates, and managed herself," said Clint Joseph.

Snehalaya usually keeps residents for six months. "But Savithri's family couldn’t care for her. She needed special attention, and her home environment wasn’t conducive. So, we continued to shelter her," Joseph said. In all those years, her family visited her only three times.

Four days ago, Savithri developed a fever and was taken to a private hospital in Mangaluru by the rehabilitation centre. "We informed her family as the hospital required a caregiver," said Clint Joseph. The family then moved her to the District Hospital in Kanhangad, where she passed away on Monday.

"Her mother still lives in a tiled-roof hut on a six-cent plot," Clint Joseph said. The hut, wrapped in tarpaulin and without a door, is shared by Vattichi, Shantha, and Saneesha.

Vattichi had applied with the government for a house long ago, but the CPM-led Cheruvathur grama panchayat included her in the priority list only in 2024-2025. "Now, the foundation work of the house is complete. The next phase is stalled due to lack of funds," said CPM member Sreedharan K. Some dreams die in darkness.