Heart-breaking images have emerged showing a deaf-mute man in China being chained and locked up inside a stone house by his mother.
Wang Zhiqiang, 41, was born unable to hear or speak and later became mentally ill.
His mother Yue Rong, 77, admitted that she had kept him chained up for the past 12 years in a bid to prevent him from hurting the other people.
Wang Zhiqiang has been chained and locked up in a stone house in China for over 10 years
His mother could not afford to pay for psychiatric treatment and forced to leave him at home
Mr Wang was sent to a boarding school for special needs by his family when he was little.
However, Mr Wang started to develop psychological issues after being bullied by his classmates.
He was sent back home and got chained up by his parents since then.
Ms Yue told Zhengzhou Evening Post that her son’s condition worsen and started attacking neighbours in the village in Dengfeng of Henan Province.
Mr Wang was left untreated by the poverty-stricken family.
‘When my husband was still alive, he was able to take care of our son. But when he passed away 12 years ago, I could not handle my son on my own,’ Ms Yus told the reporter.
Ms Yue had no choice but to chain him up and lock him in a stone house.
Mr Wang’s elder sister, Wang Shufen, cried every time she visited her brother in the animal-like state.
The 50-year-old sister said it was heartbreaking to see her brother begging to let him out.
The 41-year-old deaf-mute man was locked since his father passed away 12 years ago
Wang’s family is receiving monthly subsidies from the local government
Wang’s sister said it was heartbreaking to see Wang begging to leave the house
Ding Yanfang, a party secretary of the village, told Zhengzhou Evening Post: ‘When Wang was still a boy, he was very smart despite being deaf-mute.’
‘When he returned from the special needs school with mental problems, there was little we could do. It was heartbreaking,’ he added.
The village secretary said the local government provides the family with monthly subsidies, but Mr Ding hopes members of the public will help raise enough funds to send Wang to a psychiatric hospital to receive treatment.