Testifying as a defence witness in the Santosh Mane case — the state transport driver had run amok on the roads of Pune driving a bus recklessly and killing nine people on January 25 last year — a Solapur-based psychiatrist on Tuesday told a Pune court that he had diagnosed Mane with “mania” and treated him between February 19, 2010 and September 3, 2011.
He told the court that he had not only prescribed medicines, but also used electro-convulsive therapy (ECT) — electric shock therapy — on Mane as many as six times.
Testifying before additional sessions judge V K Shewale, Dr Dilip Shankar Burate also said Pune Police had recorded his statement and had in fact acquired a copy of the case history of Mane from him on the evening of January 25, 2012, the day Mane ran over people and crushed vehicles in the morning.
The prosecution had been maintaining so far that Burate had been refusing to co-operate with the investigation.
Burate, MD (Psychological Illnesses and Medicine) who has his practice in several cities including Solapur said Mane approached had him for the first time.on February 19, 2010.
Mane is from Solapur.
“He complained of lack of sleep, loss of appetite, palpitation, delusions of persecution, and mood swings. I diagnosed him with mania. Following this I gave him medication and also administered electro-convulsive therapy (ECT) after obtaining permission from his brother. Between February 19, 2010 and March 12, 2010 ECT was administered six times in presence of his family members,” said Dr Burate.
Burate said although Mane exhibited restlessness, irritability, elation and complained of delusions of persecution, his orientation, memory and intelligence were not impaired. Burate said Mane didn’t have any family history of psychological illnesses.
Burate submitted to court a history of Mane’s treatment and prescriptions given to him during the treatment period.
Contrary to the prosecution claim that despite police attempts Burate had declined to record his statement, the doctor told the court that Pune Police had recorded his statement although he couldn’t recall the exact date. Burate also said that on January 25, 2012, on the day of the incident, Pune Police personnel met him at around 9pm and took away a copy of case history of Mane’s treatment. He submitted to the court a receipt from police as proof.
Another defence witness, Shivanand Gangadhar Shete, who owns Solapur-based Amrut Medical and General Stores, and who reportedly sold medicines to Mane, also testified on Tuesday.
Shete said Mane bought medicines from his store several times between February 9, 2010 and September 3, 2011 on prescriptions given by Dr Burate.
Public Prosecutor Ujjwala Pawar will cross-examine both the witnesses on March 1. Mane was represented by defence lawyers Dhananjay Mane, Rhishikesh Ganu and Pradip Pawar.