Media Release

Mangaluru, Feb 7: Eminent psychiatrist Dr K Sudhakar Shetty, who served the Department of Psychiatry at Father Muller Hospital, Mangaluru, for over five decades, passed away due to age-related illness on February 7. He was 93.

Born on April 16, 1933, Dr Shetty was a towering figure in Indian psychiatry and a true pioneer of mental health care in the country. As India’s first MD psychiatrist from the inaugural batch at AIIMS, New Delhi, he stood at the forefront of the discipline at a time when mental health was poorly understood and largely neglected.

In 1965, Dr Shetty established the department of psychiatry at Father Muller’s Hospital, laying the foundation not only for a department, but for a culture of ethical, patient-centred mental health care.

For an extraordinary 52 years, he served the institution with unwavering integrity, humility and selflessness, always placing the dignity and well-being of his patients above all else.

Over the course of his long and distinguished career, Dr Shetty touched the lives of lakhs of patients and families across the region. His compassion extended far beyond clinical treatment, offering comfort, reassurance and mental solace that often endured long after consultations had ended.

Dr Shetty’s legacy lives on in the countless lives he healed, the professionals he mentored and inspired, and the enduring standards of empathy, ethics and excellence he set for generations of mental health practitioners. He will be remembered not only as an outstanding clinician and academician, but as a deeply humane physician.

He is survived by his children, Dr Rajesh Shetty (neurologist and director, First Neuro Hospital, Mangaluru) and Rakesh Shetty, as well as his grandchildren.

The last rites will be held on February 8.