'Heartbreaking' find of disabled boys tied to trees for years by own families
Two disabled Indian boys have been rescued after they were found tied up alongside cattle for five years.
Umesh, 8, is visually impaired and mentally disabled.
But according to The Sun, his grandmother tied him up because of his behaviour.
The boy reportedly lost his dad Bhagwati Lal and Manu Devi from HIV five years ago and he moved to live with his grandparents in Udaipur, Rajasthan.
But his grandmother Peepi Bai, 75, allegedly tied him up because he was violent and kept trying to run away.
Mrs Bai said he was “normal” until he was three, but after his parents died he “started behaving differently”.
“We don’t earn enough money to get him treatment,” she said.
“We are old and cannot run around looking for him.
“And so we have to keep him tied up.”
In the same city, Jiva Ram, 11, from Baydi Village in Udaipur, also suffered from polio and mental breakdowns.
His father, Hurma Ram, 35, tied him to a tree before he went to work on the farm.
Mr Ram said to “avoid any problems”, Jiva had to be tied up because he had “harmed himself in the past.”
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Both the boys have now been freed and taken to a shelter home.
Aasra Vikas Sansthan child welfare charity founder Bhoraj Singh said “it was heartbreaking” to find the boys tied up “like animals”.
“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,” he said.
“Both the boys have been shifted to a shelter home where they will be taken good care of.”
