Freedom from Iron Chains: Manavsewa Ashram Rescues Om Prakash Rajghar

The heaviest chains are not made of iron; they are made of silent compromises we make to keep the peace, the expectations we carry for others, and the load of what we wish for.

No more rusty chains upon the stone.

No more desolation behind closed iron chains for Om Prakash Rajghar.

For 35-year-old Om Prakash Rajghar, however, the chains were real. For over ten years, he was kept locked up in iron chains simply because he was suffering from mental health issues. His story lays bare a messy reality, serving as an urgent wake-up call regarding our collective accountability and the breakdown of human dignity in Nepal. Thanks to Ashram’s intervention, he is finally free.

🎵“दुःखीको मन पनि दुख्छ हजुर।”💔 - Even the heart of a sad person hurts, sir.

🎬Watch Om Prakash's compelling rescue story video & his journey to Manavsewa Ashram here: 👇 Chaining individuals with mental health issues is a violation of human rights. 💔 True humanity requires timely medical treatment, compassionate care, and deep respect for individual dignity—a Manavsewa Ashram Rescue.

There was a time when Om Prakash Rajghar lived freely like everyone, worked like everyone else, and dreamed of the future under the open sky. He went to work abroad to support his family, but his world unexpectedly narrowed when his wife left him to remarry. The heartbreak triggered a severe psychological collapse, leaving him mentally unstable. He returned home to Ward No. 5, Fulbaria (Shravan Village / Gahu Bikas) in Paschim Nawalparasi, but his family could offer no support or relief. His aging father, Bharat Bahadur Rajghar, is an ailing laborer struggling hard just to put food on the table, leaving him entirely unable to afford the vital psychiatric medicines his son desperately needs.

Om Prakash’s condition worsened critically day by day, leading his family to bind him in iron chains. For over a decade, the world outside moved forward while Om’s life ground to a halt inside, incarcerated in a darkened room.

A person with severe mental health conditions requires timely medical treatment and compassion. Instead, Om suffered a decade of abject misery and neglect in chains. His plight eventually caught the attention of ward chairpersons Laxman Chaudhary and Kusadi Tharu Chaudhary of Shraval Village, Ward No. 5, Fulbariya. On a recent Saturday, they rescued him and transferred him via a municipal ambulance to the Manavsewa Ashram in Tillotama, Rupandehi. For the first time in forever, Om was finally freed from his metal chains; he touched the Ashram’s ground with deepest gratitude. Now, finally, in a secure environment, he is receiving vital medical care and psychological support needed to heal, rebuild his life, and eventually return to his community and reunite with his family. 

Physical and Mental Bondage

• Rusting: Metal chains dug into his flesh as the years went by.
• Stripped: Severe isolation inside walls stripped away his humanity, leaving only bare survival instincts all the time.
• Emaciated: Extreme neglect drained his life, leaving his body severely wasted.
• Withered: Lack of sunlight and basic care caused him to wither away in isolation.
• Forgotten: The world progressed, leaving him abandoned in the darkness.
• Fractured: The trauma fractured his psyche into broken pieces that will take time to mend.
• Wasting: A slow, agonizing loss of strength and life.
• Suffocated: Smothered by heavy air with no room to breathe.
• Haunted: Chased by inner fears, cruel thoughts of phantom walls that never cease or sleep.
• Paralyzed: Frozen in place, unable to move or change.

#manavsewaashram #humanityfirst