Elderly grandmother with dementia and Alzheimer's found cruelly chained to door
In a disturbing tale that is emerging from Thailand, local media reported that an elderly 83-year-old woman was found chained to the doorway of a home. The incident took place in the town of Chachoengsao, capital of the Chachoengsao province in central Thailand and boasting of a population of 60,000-odd residents.
Identified as only Grandma Chuam, she was resigned to live in the deplorable conditions by none other than her family and has since been rescued from the home by the local authorities. She was allegedly chained by her step-sister to prevent her from wandering off and getting lost.
Chuam is suffering from Alzheimer's - the chronic neurogenerative disease that results in a plethora of symptoms such as speech problems, disorientation, mood swings, behavioral issues, and memory loss - those drastic measures were claimed to be taken for her own safety.
If it were not for the nonchalance of the step-sister, 65-year-old Wimol, at how she was treating Chuam, the cruelty would have gone unnoticed. The 83-year-old's plight was discovered when Wimol asked a neighbor to go and check on the welfare of the elderly lady.
The neighbor, Chang Neung, was appalled to find Chuam with the rusty chain digging into her ankles and in pain, with little to no room to even maneuver around. Neung decided that he had to free the octagenarian and brought back a circular saw to cut through the chain. Video footage of her distressing condition shows her sitting on the ground, bleeding from the area where the chain had cut into her leg.
The man took several videos of Chuam and uploaded it on Facebook this past Wednesday. The clips soon went viral and were viewed over 2 million times within the first day. It sparked furious reactions from netizens, who called for action to be taken against the family.
Police were soon notified and soon arrived to question both Chuam and Wimol over the revolting treatment. Wimol claimed that she had done so because she was worried about the well-being of her step-sister and that because Chuam lived alone with no children to care for, the responsibility had fallen on her shoulders to look after her.
She also explained that her step-sister had Alzheimer's and that she had wandered away on her own volition on several previous occasions. She said she had recently found her sitting alone in a rice field during a rainstorm and constantly worried Chuam would injure herself.
Once Chuam was freed from her shackles, local officials treated her with food and medical supplies and pledged they would monitor her situation closely. It is not clear whether Wimol has been charged with any crime or whether she will be prosecuted for what undoubtedly constitutes abuse.
Speaking on the deplorable incident, District Chief Thitirat Sangngam, said: "This is a sad situation for Grandma Chuam and we will provide assistance. The local government funds can be used to secure the house to prevent the lady from walking away and putting herself at risk," adding that staff and volunteers would ensure her safety henceforth.
The Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) had announced in 2016 that the number of Alzheimer's patients in Thailand had touched over half a million, predicting that the number would double to a million by 2029. It currently affects close to 5% of the population and in response to the crisis, the country has ramped up its medical development and patient care infrastructure to accommodate the increasing number of patients.