‘Tied my hands with iron chain’: Woman shackled by family rescued in Telangana

Chityala Geetha was found crying in front of her house with her hands tied with an iron chain. The victim claims to have done her B.A. and worked as a teacher.

A 22-year-old woman, who her family claimed was mentally unstable and kept in chains to prevent her from escaping, was rescued by her neighbours in Telangana’s Jagtial town on Wednesday, police said on Thursday.

The woman, Geetha, said she was being tortured by her brothers and sisters-in-law, who made her do all the household chores. (HT Photo)

An eye-witness said Chityala Geetha, a resident of Vani Nagar area, was found crying in front of her house with her hands tied with an iron chain in the evening. Geetha told the neighbours that she was being tortured by her brothers and sisters-in-law, who made her do all the household chores.

“When I tried to run away from home unable to bear their torture, they tied my hands with an iron chain behind my back and locked it,” she said.

Geetha said she lost her father a few years ago and was living with her brothers – Chityala Narayana, Ramesh and Srinivas – since then.

“She claimed to have done her graduation in arts and worked as a teacher in a private school for some time. She alleged that her sisters-in-law Manasa, Latha and Radha had been ill-treating her for the last few years and forcing her to do all the household work including bathing their children, washing their clothes etc. Even her brothers used to beat her regularly,” V Srinivas, a local resident, said.

Her brothers said Geetha has been mentally unsound since she was 11 years old and they had spent a huge amount of money on her treatment. She used to hurl stones at people at times and that was why they kept her chained, they told the police.

“The woman appeared to be very much disturbed mentally though she was speaking normally at times. We are sending her to the hospital to get her checked. If she is found normal, we will take action against the brothers as per the law. In any case, chaining a person is not proper,” Jagtial town police inspector R Prakash told Hindustan Times.

Jagtial district superintendent of police Ananta Sarma said the woman should be shifted to the State Home for Women and Child Welfare in Hyderabad if it is found that her family members tortured her.