Parents keep ‘possessed’ son, 39, locked up in China since childhood
Case underlines desperate shortage of mental health resources in rural China
A middle-aged man in southern China has been locked up at home for more than 30 years because his parents suspected he was possessed by ghosts, mainland media reports.
The unnamed man, aged 39, has been detained at home in Beihai, Guangxi province by his parents since childhood.
The parents claimed that he became abnormal after he ran away at age 6 and was taken by an unknown person to a house that was being exorcised, the news portal Kankannews.com reported.
His mother Li Lianying told the news website that after he returned home, she and her husband decided to lock the boy up after he started running in the streets and eating neighbours’ food.
The man called her mother until he was 12 years old, his mother said.
A video circulated online recently showed that the man shouting through a barred window.
The man, with a pale face and slim body, lived in a dark, damp room, according to the report .
Li said she and her husband took care of their son’s day to day needs but they had no alternative than to keep him locked up at home.
A local hospital and psychiatric centre had now intervened and was assisting the man, the report said.
