Neighbour hears 'unusual noises', leads to discovery of teen locked up for 6 months

The boy was reportedly not even allowed to go to the washroom, and his mother used to give him food and water inside the room.

A teen who was allegedly chained and locked up in a room by his mother for nearly six months, has now been rescued from his residence in Gujarat's Deesa.

The incident came on light on January 3, when the Child Welfare Committee (CWC) in the Banaskantha district was tipped off about 'unusual noises' coming from the house where the 17-year-old and his mother lived.

An official familiar with the matter told The Hindustan Times that the victim's father had suffered heavy losses and had left home to work in Surat in June last year, and had not returned. The disappearance reportedly made the woman insecure, which led her to prevent her son from leaving the house. "She is suspected to have been suffering from psychological disorder", the CWC official told the publication.

Chairperson of CWC, Banaji Rajput, noted that the boy - a class 9 student - had neither attended school nor stepped out to meet his friends since July of last year. He was not allowed to relieve himself in the washroom, and his mother gave him food and water inside the room.

Rajput told HT, "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".

The victim has two sisters, both married, settled in Surat, and completely unaware of the torture their brother went through.

Deesa police inspector Rohit Chaudhary informed that a police team had gone with the CWC workers and had to forcibly enter since the mother was not letting them in.

They discovered the boy with his right leg tied with a chain and lock, the officer said, sharing that he howled on seeing the team.

"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 told HT.

The boy had minor injuries like marks on his face and leg, abrasions on his back, and injuries on his hands, which was put down to his efforts to free himself. The officer further shared that while the mother didn't assault him, she'd shout at him whenever he cried to free himself.

The boy, after being treated at a government hospital, was sent to a children's home in Palanpur, 30 kms from Deesa.