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It was at one of the Doctors Without Borders / Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) counselling centres in the valley that I first met Khateeja (name changed). Hailing from one of the most volatile areas of North Kashmir, she seemed confused about her age when asked, but seemed to be around 55 years old. This is her story.
Once considered to be one of the most educated families in the village, Khateeja’s family is currently entirely dependent on agriculture. “We used to be 12 members in total- my husband, three sons, two daughters-in-law, three grandsons, two granddaughters and me,” she tells me, remembering good old times as she counts on her fingers.
In the late’90 s, her husband, who had been associated with one of the conflict groups, was allegedly kidnapped by another group. After three days, his corpse was recovered from outside his house with visible burn and other torture marks on his body. Hardly nine months had gone by when Khateeja’s eldest son was also killed in an encounter. It did not end here. The family continued to witness episodes of periodic harassment where opponents would often raid their house looking for her other son who by now had also joined one of the groups. In 2005, he was captured, detained and finally tortured to death by them while in detention.
These heavy losses not only left Khateeja’s dreams shattered but the whole family in shambles. Her youngest son, who was studying at the Kashmir University, continued to be harassed which eventually forced him to give up his course at the University. He started to take care of the familial agricultural land instead- their only source of bread and butter.
Over a period of time, Khateeja’s health started to deteriorate and she started developing various psychological symptoms.
“I lost my husband!”, “I lost two of my sons!”, “They killed them!”, “What do I do with my widowed daughters-in-law?”, “They will probably soon kill my youngest son too- my only hope!”, “Ours is a family of widows and orphans”, “How can I be happy?” she asked me teary-eyed. Her son and the eldest daughter-in-law who accompanied her to the clinic shared that Khateeja wouldn’t sleep at night, would start crying on hearing a knock on the door, talk to herself and stay vigilant during the day. Khateeja had also become apprehensive and had started to avoid people, preferring isolation instead, they added.
While I listened to other symptoms and incidents that the family had to share, I could see Khateeja weeping and getting restless from the corner of my eye. She complained of heart palpitations as she relived those traumatic incidents. Considering the intensity and severity of traumatic events and its repercussions on my patient, the entire family was thoroughly educated about the probable state of mental health of Khateeja. They were accordingly asked to get involved in the following sessions.
After a series of counselling sessions, over a period of six weeks, Khateeja has shown considerable improvement. She has started sitting with the family, talking to the neighbors and involving herself in small domestic chores. Furthermore, she has also started taking care of her grand-children and the family tells me her sleep pattern has also improved.
This is a story of a MSF patient affected by the long-standing conflict in the state of Jammu and Kashmir. MSF has been providing mental healthcare in the state, through quality, free-of-cost counselling services to those affected since 2001. This story, as narrated by one of our counsellors, aims to reflect the reality of the mental health situation in the state and the many affected by it.
