( 21 )
There was thus a total of 40 (36 males and 4 females) criminal lunatics; of
these, one was discharged "cured" by order of the Local Administration, and one
died, 38 remaining at the close of the year, classified thus :—
(a) Tried and acquitted on the ground of insanity ...
(b) Insane and incapable of making a defence ...
(c) Became insane during imprisonment ...
Total ...
M.
9
20
5
34
F.
1
3
...
4
Total.
10
23
5
38
The daily average strength was 33.72 against 35.44 in 1897. Of the 9 admis-
sions, 6 were from the Central Provinces and 3 from the Central Indian
Agencies.
10. The history of the nine patients admitted is as follows :—
(1) Bhoota, Gond, 25 years. Crime, 302, I. P. C., Murder. The history
shows that Bhoota had been in the habit of wandering about since childhood.
His parents used to search the jungles for him and bring him back, but after
their death he had no one to look after him.
He used to eat the flesh of dead dogs, and one day, after wandering about for
eight days without food, he went into a village and caught a child, stunned it,
took it into the jungle, killed, cooked and ate it. While eating it, the villagers
caught him.
He states that he killed the child, because he wanted food. He was very
emaciated on admission, is idiotic and does not seem to think he has done any-
thing wrong.
(2) Ratti Ram Singh, aged 28, charged under sections 380-436, I. P. C.
This man is a confirmed ganja-smoker. He came to the Asylum in January 1892,
the exciting cause being ganja, and he managed to escape in July 1893. The
official visitors had recommended his discharge if any one could be found to look
after him.
In April 1895, he came back to the Asylum, to pay his respects to the Deputy
Superintendent, and was confined until orders for his disposal could be received.
It appears he had been 10 months in the Raipur Police and had escorted two
prisoners to Saugor, and passing through Jubbulpore on his way back, he thought
it only right to call on the Deputy Superintendent. The Local Administration
ordered his release.
In June 1898, he was again admitted, this time as a criminal lunatic. When
he came to the Asylum, he was noisy, violent, sleepless, filthy in his habits and very
incoherent. Under treatment he soon became quiet, and a month after admission
he became rational and has remained so to date.
(3) Jilla, Gond, age 20, charged under section 302,I. P. C.—Murder. The his-
tory shows that Jilla and four other boys were grazing cattle. Jilla began throwing
stones at them and they all ran away. He caught one and gave him several blows
with his axe and threw the corpse into a nullah and then sat under a tree. On the
arrival of the father of the deceased, he got up and showed the corpse, but denied
having killed the boy. On arrival at the Asylum, he was very quiet, and said that
his father had sent him there for treatment. A few days after, he became very
violent and sleepless, and remained so for over two months. He is now greatly
improved, and says that three days before he committed the offence, he was
attending the marriage of one of his relatives and that he smoked ganja and
drank liquor. He also says he occasionally smoked ganja.
I have put this down to ganja, but I am doubtful if I am correct, for he
appears to know he has committed some offence ; whereas a crime committed
under the influence of ganja is invariably denied and that time seems to be a
blank.