A High Court judge Philda Muzofa has challenged authorities to ensure that mental health issues are prioritised to avoid the commission of crimes by mentally challenged people and also protect members of the public.
Relatives of mentally ill patients are refusing to stay with them after they get released from prison following their incarceration for various crimes.
Muzofa said this is an issue of concern considering that criminal cases being committed by mentally ill people were on the rise yet preventable.
The judge was handing down her judgement in a case where a Kariba man John Matibilila was charged with the murder of one Timoti Lunga.
Matibilila was found not guilty due to insanity but no relative could take him back on fears that he would commit murder again.
This was despite the fact that it was established that he had recovered and was now taking his medication again having defaulted before he committed the crime.
Muzofa said this calls for concerted efforts by all stakeholders that deal with mental health issues to widely disseminate awareness.
"The public must have basic knowledge on how to identify basic signs of a mental disorder and what to do.
"There must be room for members of the public to alert or report at the nearest police or clinic so that proper medical procedures can be activated before crimes are committed.
"This would go a long way to help the affected and also protect members of the society.
"It is high time mental health issues are prioritised in view of the increased number of such cases," said the judge.
Matibilila was a known mental patient.
His wife had abandoned him after he became mentally unstable.
On the fateful day, he struck his neighbour Lunga, with a log for no apparent reason killing him instantly.
He was taken to court where he pleaded not guilty to murder due to insanity before his plea was upheld upon tendering of medical affidavits and doctors' testimonies.
At the end of his trial, the court found he was no longer mentally disordered and fit to be discharged but his relatives were nowhere to be found.
After they were located no relative was willing to accommodate him.
His brother who took care of him before he killed his neighbour had passed on.
Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters
Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox
Later, his uncle filed an affidavit admitting that they were related but could not accommodate him.
The judge said available recourses do not cover a situation where the accused is said to have recovered but no one is ready to take him/ her in their custody.
She said the courts have established that this was common in most cases and the reasons vary from fear of relapses to pure discrimination.
"A practice has developed in our courts that such an accused is not simply released, he is released into the custody of a responsible person who makes an undertaking to take care of him and try to the best of their abilities to monitor him or her.
"Having said that, despite the medical report that was placed before us and the non-availability of anyone willing to take care of the accused, we agree with counsel that the accused must be committed to the psychiatric unit.
"The court is not inclined to release him to nowhere.
"He requires care and monitoring to continue taking medication. He has already defaulted and maybe a finger to society," she said before ordering that Matibilila be transferred to Chikurubi Psychiatric Unit for examination and treatment.
