Two disabled boys in India have been rescued after being tied up to trees for five years by their families.
One was kept on a leash in a cow stable by his grandparents because he was ‘violent’ while another was tied naked to a tree by his father every day before going to work.
Shockingly, both families attempted to vindicate their acts of cruelty saying it was the only way to ‘avoid problems’.
Jiva Ram, 11, from Baydi village in Udaipur, suffers from polio and mental breakdowns and was tied to a tree outside his house by his father Hurma Ram, 35, before he went out to work on his farm
Umesh, eight, from Kolyari in Rajasthan, a northern state of India, is visually impaired and has a mental disability
Jiva Ram is carried away by rescue workers after they probed reports of neglect and abuse
Umesh lies face-down without any pants or trousers on the ground with his leg tied to a piece of bamboo
Umesh, eight, from Kolyari in Rajasthan, a northern state of India, is visually impaired and has a mental disability.
His parents Bhagawati Lal and Manu Devi died of the HIV disease five years ago and Umesh went to live with his grandparents.
His grandmother, Peepi Bai, 75, said that Umesh is violent and used to run away so they decided to keep him tied with a rope in the cow stable.
She said: ‘Umesh was a normal child till he was three. But after his parents died he started behaving differently.
‘We don’t earn enough money to get him treatment. He’s sometimes violent and leaves home without anyone knowing.
‘We are old and cannot run around looking for him. And so we have to keep him tied up.’
The neglected and abused eight-year-old sits on the dirty ground near a cow in the stable
Two rescue workers free Jiva Ram, 11, who swooped to save the abused boy tied to a tree
Elsewhere in the same region, Jiva Ram, 11, from Baydi village in Udaipur, suffers from polio and mental breakdowns and was tied to a tree outside his house by his father Hurma Ram, 35, before he went out to work on his farm.
He said: ‘He had harmed himself in the past. To avoid any problems we had to keep him tied.’
Both the boys are now free, and been taken to a shelter home by representatives of the Child Welfare Committee, the NGO Aasra Vikas Sansthan and the Child Rights Department.
Bhojraj Singh, the founder of Aasra Vikas Sansthan, had heard reports of the boys and investigated.
He was shocked to find them tied to a tree ‘like animals’.
Both the boys are now free, and been taken to a shelter home by representatives of the Child Welfare Committee, the NGO Aasra Vikas Sansthan and the Child Rights Department. Pictured is Jiva being carried by a rescue worker
Bhojraj Singh, the founder of Aasra Vikas Sansthan, had heard reports of the boys and investigated. He was shocked to find them tied to a tree ‘like animals’. Pictured is Umesh being helped along a track by rescue workers
He said: ‘We were shocked to see the condition in which both children were found.
‘Javi was found naked while one of his legs was tied to a tree, whereas Umesh was tied to a bamboo pole, among the cattle. It was heartbreaking.
‘Both the boys have been shifted to a shelter home where they will be taken good care of.
‘We shall start their treatment and help them grow into good human beings.’