Coronavirus puts Indonesia’s mentally ill back in shackles

Locked up all day in a tiny, squalid hut in the seaside town of Polewali in Indonesia’s province of West Sulawesi, Rauf is a prisoner not only to his mental health issues but also because those who care for him have locked him away. Padlocks, shackles and chains are frequently used on such patients in Indonesia and other areas around the world that lack proper mental health care. The coronavirus pandemic has reportedly exacerbated the problem, forcing a growing number of mentally ill people in…