In Tomsk, older women were given new names and dates of birth. This is the first such case

Posting in CHAT: Russia

Dmitry Kandinsky / vtomske.ru In the Tomsk region, for the first time, the fact of the birth of two adults – women over 60 years old – was established, Elena Kartashova, the Commissioner for Human Rights in the region, told vtomske.ru. About 30 years ago, they ended up in a psychiatric hospital, had no documents, no belongings and could not provide information about themselves. Now women will receive passports and other documents that will allow them to receive pensions, benefits and have the rights of citizens of the country. Elena Kartashova said that in 2022, doctors from the Tomsk Psychiatric Hospital approached her with a request to help two patients obtain documents. One woman entered the institution in the late 1980s, the other in the 1990s. According to the Ombudsman, one of them was brought from the forest. The police began an investigation and searched for the women’s relatives, but in vain. “Employees of the psychiatric hospital have been dealing with this issue for a long time, contacting the police, trying to search for them in all databases – dead, missing, with special signs. Citizenship is also unknown – they could either be Russian, or they could then have entered from the Soviet republic, which is now a separate country. All these years, according to the police, none of their relatives looked for them. But it is impossible to get information from patients – one does not speak at all, and the second considers herself a child, knows nothing about herself – today she calls one name, tomorrow she can call another,” said the ombudsman. correspondent for vtomske.ru. “They have serious diagnoses, they have no documents, so they cannot receive either a pension or social assistance. They are fed, given pills, but no money, no clothes, only charitable help: someone will bring a dress, someone will bring slippers,” Kartashova added. The Ombudsman, together with the Migration Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Civil Registry Office and other structures, organized a meeting. “We discussed an algorithm of what can be done to help women obtain passports. For a year and a half, we walked step by step towards establishing the fact of their birth,” said Elena Kartashova. According to her, the police again organized a search, checked all the bases, and a study was conducted at the Bureau of Forensic Medicine of the Tomsk Region to determine the biological age of women.” Including x-rays of the hands, scraping of the inner part of the mucous membrane of the cheeks, etc. , which makes it possible to reduce the age range to a minimum,” the ombudsman noted, adding that experts established the age of women in the range of 65-70 years. The commissioner wrote a conclusion that women’s rights had been violated, after which the hospitals went to court with all the documents. The case was considered by the Leninsky District Court. As a result, the court decided to establish the fact of birth, the place of women and officially give them their names and surnames. Decisions were made at the end September and early October. “That is, the court recognized that these are people who have a last name, first name, patronymic, date and place of birth. When the decisions come into force, the hospital will be able to apply with the court decision to the registry office, obtain birth certificates for women, the next step will be to obtain a passport, medical insurance, apply to the Social Fund, etc. . When a child is born, everything is the same, only the “born” person is already old,” said Elena Kartashova. The women were given a date of birth, Tomsk was indicated as the place of birth, and their names were given as Valentina and Raisa. The women will continue to live in the hospital, but after receiving documents they will be able to apply for a pension and old-age benefits in accordance with the diagnosis – they have serious mental disorders.” will give them the opportunity to have their teeth treated, receive routine and not just emergency care, etc. Now they will have the right to everything that every citizen has the right to due to age and health, and will also be able to buy their own new clothes, additional food and more diversity. Of course, now, in addition to hospital food, they treat staff and patients to it, but now they will have their own resources,” said Elena Kartashova. “Adults are born. When small children are found, make sure everyone knows what to do, the registration of the child’s birth will definitely happen. And here is a situation, firstly, that none of us have encountered, in all the years of working as a lawyer I have never encountered anything like this, and secondly, the Soviet Union collapsed, there are no photographs or general databases. and no. they are looking for them. There have been no such cases in the Tomsk region, this is the first case,” the ombudsman noted.