A 17-year-old boy, who was allegedly chained and held captive in a room for nearly six months by his mother, has been rescued from his residence at Deesa in Banaskantha district of Gujarat, police said on Saturday.
The incident came to light on January 3, after the Child Welfare Committee (CWC) in Banaskantha received a tip-off through one of their social workers about “unusual noises” coming from the house where the victim and his mother lived.
“The victim’s father, who used to invest in share markets, had suffered huge losses and left home to work in Surat in June last year, and hasn’t returned yet. Her husband’s disappearance made the woman insecure and she wouldn’t let her son leave the house. She is suspected to have been suffering from psychological disorder,” a CWC official familiar with the matter said.
Chairperson of child welfare committee, Banaji Rajput, said the boy, a class 9 student at a private school, has not attended school or stepped out to meet his friends since July last year.
“One of the neighbours of the victim alerted a social worker in the area that they had been hearing unusual noises of the boy over the past few days. The boy had not stepped out of the house to play with his friends since July, and when some of his friends went to the house, his mother refused to let him go saying that he was studying,” Rajput said, adding that the victim was not even allowed to relieve himself in the washroom, and the mother gave him food and water inside the room.
{{/usCountry}}“One of the neighbours of the victim alerted a social worker in the area that they had been hearing unusual noises of the boy over the past few days. The boy had not stepped out of the house to play with his friends since July, and when some of his friends went to the house, his mother refused to let him go saying that he was studying,” Rajput said, adding that the victim was not even allowed to relieve himself in the washroom, and the mother gave him food and water inside the room.
{{/usCountry}}“The mother is a homemaker and her two daughters are married and settled in Surat. They were unaware of the torture their brother underwent,” he said.
Asked if the woman approached the police regarding her missing husband, Deesa police inspector Rohit Chaudhary said that a missing complaint was lodged at Deesa police station in July, and he had informed the woman that her husband will not return.
He added that the police came to know about the child’s captivity on January 3, when the CWC sought police protection to rescue him. “A team from the police station and a PCR was sent with the CWC team. The boy’s right leg was tied by using an iron chain and lock. He was frightened to see the team and started howling,” he added.
The CWC chairman said that they had to forcibly enter the house as the mother was not letting them in.
“The room was stinking, the bedsheet was not washed and cooked food was lying all over the floor. We used a hammer to cut the chain since the mother refused to give us keys to the lock,” Rajput said.
He added that the boy’s body bore minor injuries “There were marks on his leg and face, abrasions on his back, and injuries on his hands, which he must have sustained while trying to free himself from the chain. The mother did not assault him but used to shout whenever he cried to free himself.”
Rajput said the boy was admitted to a government hospital for initial treatment, following which he has been sent to a children’s home in Palanpur, some 30 kilometres from Deesa.
Meanwhile, the CWC officials said the mother was possibly undergoing some mental trauma since her husband’s disappearance but never consulted a doctor. “The woman was admitted to a government hospital and her daughters were informed. The doctors had advised some tests, but the woman’s daughters got her discharged from the hospital on Saturday and took her to Surat for further treatment,” said Mehul Someshwari, an official associated with the CWC.