South African writer ZP Dala was recently assaulted by three men and beaten with a brick after expressing her admiration for the writing of Salman Rushdie. Weeks later, she was admitted to a mental institution for refusing to rescind her support and repent for her “sins.” Although she originally agreed to go to the hospital, she was later denied discharge. Dala was released from St. Joseph’s Mental Hospital on Sunday night after PEN raised the alarm this weekend. She shared the following statement on Monday evening:
I would like to thank PEN Centers in South Africa, America, and the U.K. a million times over for mobilizing so quickly and working so hard to secure my release from St. Joseph’s psychiatric hospital.
I felt myself slipping into a deeper depression while there. I felt cut off from the world and that my faculties were compromised by excessive medication.
I am now home with my family, laughing kids and overgrown garden.
Please convey my sincerest and most heartfelt thank you to all at PEN and all others who assisted in securing my release.”