Pre-teen son who was caged by mom for 28 years in 'urine-soaked' flat found with no teeth and barely able to walk
A 12-year-old boy was reportedly kept locked inside a filthy apartment by her mother for nearly 28 years, reports state. The son, who is now aged 41, was recent freed from the flat in Stockholm, Sweden, and was found with almost no teeth, severely undernourished, and covered in sores. Authorities stated that he was taken out of school around the age of 12 and had been locked inside since then.
The man was discovered after a worried relative found him lying on a blanket on the floor of the apartment on Sunday when his 70-year-old mother had stepped out. It was reported that the man "could barely walk, had limited speech and had infected sores on his legs amongst other wounds". The flat, described as "urine-soaked", reportedly had almanacs from 1995 and 1996 littered around and was filled with garbage, which had not been cleared for a long time, according to the Sun.
The relative, who was not identified, reportedly told Expressen that she had to wade through narrow passages between piles of junk to get into the apartment. "There was urine, dirt and dust. It smelled rotten," she said. "No one could have cleaned that home for many years. It was like stepping straight into a horror movie."
The relative added that she had suspected something was wrong for decades but is now relieved: "I'm in shock, brokenhearted, but at the same time relieved. I've been waiting for this day for 20 years because I figured out that she was totally controlling his life, but I never imagined the extent of it. I'm just thankful that he got help and is going to survive." The man was reportedly rushed to the hospital and taken into surgery. The hospital staff, after treating him, alerted the police, who sealed off the apartment and arrested his mother.
Stockholm prosecutor Emma Olsson, in a statement, said, that the woman's son, who has not been identified either, may have been held in the apartment for nearly 30 years. "He's now in hospital. I know that he needed surgery," the prosecutor said. Stockholm police did not comment on the details of the man's condition when he was found in the apartment. A police department spokesperson said: "The man is in hospital. His injuries are not life-threatening. The mother is suspected of illegal deprivation of liberty and causing bodily harm. We are looking into how long the son may have been imprisoned, but we assume it's been a long period of time."
The unidentified mother, however, has denied all the allegations laid against her, according to the Swedish Prosecution Authority. She was reportedly "very overprotective" towards her son because of a "previous event in the family" according to reports by Aftonbladet.
In an unrelated but somewhat similar case, a 28-year-old mother from Louisiana was charged with first-degree murder after she allegedly starved her one-year-old son to death. The mother, identified as Tonika Willoughby, has also been accused of inflicting "horrific" injuries on the toddler in prolonged abuse at her home in Labadieville and then later sobbing about the child on Facebook.