When We Walk By

The Beggary Law is one of the most draconian legislations and the severity increases manifold in the context of mental illness

- Tarique Mohammad

Life on the streets is full of hostility and abuse. Violence and humiliation are the norm. A large number of destitute people are compelled to live on the streets as homeless. Several of these people suffer from mental health issues. Many develop mental illness due to the abuse, trauma and neglect they experience regularly when living in destitution while many end up on the streets as the result of the abandonment they face after falling ill. Every homeless person lives with high vulnerability to exploitation, uncertainty and hurt.

If the homeless are vulnerable, even more vulnerable are those with mental illness. Still higher at risk are those mentally ill homeless persons who are caught under the Beggary Law. While the Beggary Law is amongst the most draconian legislations we have, the severity increases manifold in the context of mental illness.

At present, more than 20 states and two Union Territories have anti-beggary laws. The features of these anti-beggary laws in different states are more or less similar. Broadly speaking, all criminalise destitution (poverty), where people, irrespective of their physical, economic and psychological conditions are arrested and punished for begging. The conditions that are classified as 'beggary' are also almost identical.

Let us understand this by examining some of the key provisions of the Bombay Prevention of Begging Act, 1959 (BPBA), especially in the context of mental health and persons with mental illnesses.

Amongst the most draconian and outlived legislations, the Beggary Law does not recognise the conditions or circumstances that push people towards destitution. There are historical realities like the exclusion faced by certain communities such as de-notified tribes, transpersons, people affected with leprosy or those with mental health conditions that are not acknowledged by the law, while bringing these populations within the ambit of the law.