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Man rescued from cage after eight years

Man rescued from cage after eight years

Photos have emerged showing a man suffering mental illness being rescued from a rusty cage in which he'd been held for eight years.

The Global Times reports that Hong Zhengqu, was discovered by authorities in the family home in rural China after his mother died recently.

Mr Hong spent eight years eating, using the toilet and sleeping in a 1sqm cage inside a stone house covering less than 10sqm in Jinjiang, in Quanzhou city. The iron cage had to be hammered open because it had rusted shut.

Mr Hong was rescued by authorities who took him to mental health institute after his mother died. Years spent in a confined space meant Mr Hong's legs had atrophied and he had to be carried from the house.

Hong's brother Hong Zijin carried him to the emergency car where Hong Zhengqu ate bread and communicated using his hands.

The Global Times website said the patient was locked in a cage after reportedly hurting people.

His brother had had "love problems" 20 years ago, Hong Zijin said. After a successful spell in hospital, Hong Zhengqu married.

The couple had had a boy and a girl, but Hong relapsed when his son was 4 and the wife fled, taking the children with her. The daughter is 24 years old today and the son is 22.

The Daily Mail website in Britain reports that such cases are not unheard of in rural China where a lack of education and lack of money mean people with mental illnesses do not get the professional care and treatment they needed.