After the media highlighted this heinous act, Basavaraj found a saviour. S Vidyakar of `Udavum Karangal' (Helping Hands), Chennai, decided to rehabilitate him at his Centre for Humane Services.

Basavaraj's relatives warned that he was ``dangerous'' and became ``violent''at times. They also refused to let him be rehabilitated. Vidyakar had to seek police intervention to take Basavaraj into his custody.

Now Basavaraj appears as normal as any other person and his health has improved as well. He visited the city on Saturday after he was served with a legal notice over a property dispute. After meeting the lawyer, he left for Chennai as he has no relatives here.

Vidyakar, who handles over 600 psychiatry patients in his rehabilitation centre, says Basavaraj had given no problems for thepast two years. ``He has no marked type of chronic psychiatric problems. He took three to four months to settle down. Even today, he is on a `maintenance dosage'. But he is normal in the rehabilitation centre -- helping other inmates and helping himself in day-to-day activities. He does not have a running-away tendency either and during the last two years, he was never irritated with me.''

When he was handed over to Vidyakar two years ago, Basavaraj's family apparently gave a wrong picture about Basavaraj's condition. Vidyakar kept him under observation for over 10 days. When he began responding, he was set free from the chains. He could not walk properly due to sleeplessness and was in a disturbed state of mind as he had been isolated for so long. No human being can be sane kept under such conditions, Vidyakar said.

Basavaraj's is not an isolated case where family members chain a person for long time. Vidyakar has found many such people in various states. He has Manikyam from Salem, who was chained byhis family members for over 11 years. After two-and-a-half years of stay with Vidyakar, Manikyam shows signs of confidence.

``There are two reasons why the family members chain a person. One, whenever they feel a person is behaving erratically, they try to bring him to normalcy by chaining him. In other cases, it is over some property dispute. I think Basavaraj also was chained because of a property dispute. A legal notice has been served to him,'' Vidyasagar added.

Through his network, Vidyasagar is rehabilitating over 1,500 persons. He plans to open a branch in Bangalore too.