Chinese mentally ill woman, chained in room for decades by family, to get medical treatment
Woman incarcerated to stop her attacking people, according to newspaper report
A mentally ill woman in eastern China, who has been chained up and locked in a room for decades by her family to stop her attacking people, is to finally receive care in hospital, according to a newspaper report.
Long Fen, 53, has been taken to hospital in Jinan in Shandong hospital for treatment, the Qilu Evening News reported.
A federation for the disabled in the province has offered free treatment to 100 patients until 2018 and Long has been accepted as part of the scheme.
She has suffered mentally disorders for more than 30 years.
Her family have shackled her in a small room with iron chains, according to the report.
She has attacked people verbally and physically in her village, including throwing rocks at her six-year-old granddaughter.
Her meals were given to her through the window and the report said she rarely recognises her family or son.
She has tried in the past to claw her way out of her room using her bare hands, the report said.
The cost of healthcare is a huge issue for China’s poor.
A farmer from eastern Anhui province was forced to amputate his own feet last year because he could not afford 10,000 yuan (HK$12,600) for hospital surgery after suffering untreatable infections brought on by frostbite.
