A 36-year-old woman in the eastern Indian state of Orissa was locked in a cramped, windowless room by her family for over two decades, a newspaper reported on Monday.
Swarnaprava Pandava has been confined at her family residence in eastern Kendrapara district by her parents who said she was mentally deranged and had assaulted villagers on earlier occasions, the Times of India daily reported.
The woman was served meals through a small hole in the wall and did all daily activities including bathing in the dingy room measuring eight feet by four feet.
”We took her for treatment to a government hospital and some other hospitals. Some black-magicians also treated her, but with no success after which we locked her,” her father Harekrushna Pandya was quoted by the Times as saying.
But villagers alleged that the family had not taken her for treatment. They said the woman was always dressed in rags and the family had failed to provide adequate medical care.
”If her family and the villagers think she is insane, they should get her treated. They have no right to lock her in a small room for more than two decades,” a retired doctor, G C Dash, told the paper.
The Times report said the woman remained confined to her room, but district officials were expected to look into her case and possibly free her.
The inhuman confinement was detected a week after authorities in the same state rescued a man who was locked in a mud-hut for more than 15 years by his family.
His relatives had also confined him saying he was mentally deranged and would assault locals if released. — Sapa