On May 9 of this year, rickshaw-puller Jahangir Alam was admitted to a drug addiction rehabilitation centre in Darussalam of Dhaka. He was addicted to Yaba, marijuana and heroin.
On August 23, an unconscious Jahangir was taken to a nearby hospital where duty doctors declared him dead. Injury marks were found on Jahangir's leg and feet. Jahangir's mother alleged to police that the officials of the rehabilitation centre had beaten Jahangir to death. An investigation into the incident has been launched by Darussalam police station.
Later, when the owner of the rehabilitation centre was arrested and taken into remand, he confessed that Jahangir's hands and legs were usually tied with a rope as he used to make noise and often tried to flee from the centre.
The incident points to the fact that some drug addiction rehabilitation centres are using extreme measures in a bid to 'treat' their patients. In the past, reports by dailies and television channels had revealed that some rehabilitation centres lock their patients up and at times, even starve them. There were allegations of other forms of abuse as well.
The number of addicts and alcoholics are consistently increasing. Family members of addicts often become so frustrated that they seek help of the closest drug addiction rehabilitation centre that they can find. This is also a reason behind the mushrooming of rehabilitation centres across Dhaka.
The centres often charge exorbitant fees. Family members of patients are, more often than not, unaware of the treatment methods of these centres.
I hope that the government's concerned departments will take steps to monitor the activities of the rehabilitation centres.
Naila Hossain,
Uttara, Dhaka
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