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Police rescue woman and son, 10, who locked themselves in home for THREE YEARS to escape Covid

Police revealed how the mother was so terrified that she and her son would contract the disease that she did not even let her husband enter his own home

GURUGRAM, INDIA: A woman locked herself and her son in their apartment for three years out of fear of catching Covid-19. Authorities rescued 33-year-old Munmun Majhi and her 10-year-old son on Wednesday, February 22, after spending years confined inside their Gurugram, Haryana home in India.

Police revealed how Majhi was so terrified that she and her son would contract the virus that she didn't even let her husband, identified as Sujan, enter his own home just a day after the first lockdown. The frustrated husband and father eventually contacted authorities and asked them to conduct a welfare check on his wife and son. Upon breaking into the home, police found piles of garbage strewn across the filthy apartment, where the boy had reportedly been drawing on the walls out of boredom.

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Refused entry

Sujan said that he initially stayed with friends and relatives when his wife denied him entry to the house, albeit he continued paying the rent and utilities. After a point, he had to rent another flat for himself. The engineer said that he tried multiple times to reason with his wife and continued to bring groceries, which he would leave outside the door. However, Majhi could not be convinced to let him back into the home. When a police officer called her to check on her well-being, she claimed she and her son were "absolutely fit." A police officer told reporters, "We then made a video call, and when I saw the child, I became emotional. His hair had grown to his shoulders."

The boy had been cut off from the outside world and only communicated with his mother for the period they were locked inside the home. He spent his time drawing and writing on walls to keep himself occupied. "His mother was in a panic over Covid. She had no intention of stepping out," the officer continued, adding, "She kept saying, 'I will not let my son step out because he will die immediately.' I kept talking to her, asking her if she needed any help. I think she started trusting me. So when I called her to the police station today, she came, but the child was not with her. We finally managed to convince her. She was taken to a hospital, and we then went to the flat to rescue the child."

Upon breaking into the house, police were shocked by the amount of garbage Majhi had collected inside. There were piles of clothes, hair, empty grocery bags and a thick layer of grime all over the house. The officers found the boy in one of the bedrooms and immediately rushed him to a hospital. "There was so much garbage inside that if a few more days had passed, anything untoward could have happened," Assistant Sub-Inspector Praveen Kumar said.

'The woman has psychological issues'

"A medical team, including psychiatrists, is evaluating them," Gurgaon Civil Surgeon Dr. Virender Yadav reportedly said, adding, "The woman has psychological issues. Both of them have been referred to PGI [Pandit Bhagwat Dayal Sharma Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences], Rohtak [City]. They have been admitted to the psychiatric ward for treatment." Sujan thanked the police for reuniting him with his family. "I am happy they are out. I have to take care of their health. Now they are being treated. I hope my life will be back on track soon," he reportedly said.