Meeran's stalker bolts from hospital

PUNE: Asha Shyamdas Bajaj, the 30-year-old Powai resident, who stalked inspector-general of police, Criminal Investigation Department (CID), Meeran Borwankar, escaped from the Yerawada Mental Hospital on Wednesday.

Hospital superintendent Dr Vilas Bhailume told DNA that Bajaj disappeared just after Tuesday midnight when she was being taken for a bath. Bhailume said she ran towards the rear wall of the hospital, scaled it and jumped out. “Our attendants and security guards chased her, but she had reached the busy road. From there, she hitchhiked,” he said.

Bajaj was detained by the police on Saturday after she entered Borwankar’s official residence at Maval Flats on Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Road in Pune cantonment.

An enamoured Bajaj, who wanted to “marry” the top cop, was shifted to the mental hospital by the Cantonment police on Monday. She was certified as mentally disturbed by doctors at the government-run Sassoon General Hospital. The hospital officials have been trying to contact her family in Powai.

“They are not co-operating and we are seeking help from the police to trace Bajaj,” Bhailume said.

Bajaj’s escape has brought into focus the inadequate security arrangements at the mental hospital. At least 3 patients run away every month. The eight-foot rear wall is a favourite escape route.
 
Debris piled up by a builder on the other side provides a gradient and the short trees can be gripped to scale the wall, making fleeing easy, hospital officials said.

Poor security also means people can walk in and out of the hospital unrestrained.

dnacity@dnaindia.net