A woman in Hubei Province was rescued from a deserted house that her parents had locked her in for five years this week.
24-year-old Zhang Qi suffered a ‘nervous breakdown’ five years ago following an abortion that her parents had forced her into. She had gotten pregnant out of wedlock at the age of 18.
According to Nandu Daily, her parents were worried that her illness would affect her brother, who was ‘the apple of their eye’, so they put her in an abandoned run-down home and locked her in.
All the windows and doors to the house were locked and her only point of access was a small hole in the wall. There was no sunlight in the house and Zhang had no way to wash herself.
Her classmates and friends would bring her food when they returned home every year and had apparently reported her situation to local police several times. The police refused to investigate the case, saying that it was family business.
She was finally released after local residents campaigned online. After the case received national media attention, campaigners and members of the local media went to Zhang’s town and demanded that she be released.
Her parents eventually acquiesced and Zhang was released and sent to the hospital. She has lost the ability to walk and is severely malnourished.
There has as yet been no indication that her parents will face legal recourse for their actions.
Source: sohu.com
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Keywords: Hubei Woman Rescued after Parents Imprison Her in Abandoned Shack for 5 Years
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Mindful of Samsara's comment. When I returned from China to the UK, I was listening to the BBC. The news stories were about abuse in children's homes, social workers being sacked for failing to protect vulenerable people, historic celebrity sex crimes (Jimmy Saville and all), Child abuse rings in Northern towns...lots of soul searching and finger pointing. My thought was these conversations just wouldn't happen in China. I truly dread to think what goes on in China, ignored and unpunished and the answer most people would give is "meh" Actually since I read Chinasmack I shouldn't be surprised. But this is a truly unacceptable story...
Mar 07, 2015 07:43 Report Abuse
A country with high speed trains travelling hundreds of km/hr claiming to be the largest economy in the world, with 'people' shitting on streets but not their living room, taking 5 years to free a known girl living like a rat in captivity because she made her parents lose face. Live demonstration of all that glitters isn't gold....in fact likely to be shits when one is talking about china.
Mar 03, 2015 14:19 Report Abuse
This is ridiculous. Sounds like the whole damn town knew about this poor girl and it took them (the ones that actually gave an ounce of care) 5 YEARS to free the girl. This wasn't an abduction... this wasn't hiding someone in an attic and not telling anyone and she was finally freed. This was like locking a human up in a cage while the town (especially the police) knew she was in there... This is just the lowest type of thing people can do to one another and it seems to happen here in China so often.
Mar 02, 2015 22:25 Report Abuse
I hope she somehow recovers from this horrific ordeal; and gets all the help and loving support she can...
Mar 02, 2015 20:54 Report Abuse
I guess that is the reason so many Chinese children "obey" or really are afraid of their parents, they've been condition to accept abuse, as a way of life, and those authorities are absolute cowards...frankly, so are her classmates...they should have tried to release her. Same with her brother, I want to know who these people, everyone should, so you know who is the sick monster in the town.
Mar 02, 2015 19:00 Report Abuse
Typical avoid "losing face" because our girl daughter had a baby out of wedlock and now she is mentally ill. Daughter, baby out of wedlock, mentally ill, 3 strikes on the "lose face" area, better lock her up and concentrate on junior here who will give the family all the face time we need! CRAZY!
Mar 02, 2015 16:57 Report Abuse
i dont know what does family means . they locked her like an animal and 5 years? its really a long time.. any person in the world start living in dark 4/5 years for sure he will loss his brain, body and everything police should put her family in same jail and let them suffer as well, tit for tat
Mar 02, 2015 16:17 Report Abuse
I have no words to describe this insane behavior. Morality of the parents are worse than animal that you would see on this whole planet. This place that her daughter is worse than rat prison in north Korea.And police does nothing about it. Is this a joke? I believe that police are more busy how to get bribes than investigating this incident. Is this chinese culture? What is this?
Mar 02, 2015 15:56 Report Abuse
Rest of the world? Remember 'Cleveland House of Horrors' and 20Y imprisonment/abduction in Austria? China tragic is 'cops refused to investigate/help'.
Mar 02, 2015 13:59 Report Abuse
Yes some crazy people everywhere but there is NO way we consider that normal in Europe or US I am not sure about how long was the jail sentence in that case in Austria but I bet it's close to a life one
Mar 02, 2015 15:45 Report Abuse
Icnif: Implying that "it is the same everywhere" by referencing one or two foreign cases is an utterly spurious argument that Chinese people use. --- Finding similar cases in the entire West for the last 30 years is easy BECAUSE cases are rare and shocking and thus get massive media attention. Cases like this in Western countries are comprehensively documented by police and media. In China the vast majority of horrible goings on are swept under the rug. Compare the endless litany of awful shit that happens in China (and the public's tired acceptance, and the indifference of the police) to the public outrage and media spectacle that a single such incident ignites in a Western country. That should give you a fair indication that the frequency (or "normality") of horrifying child abuse in China and the West are NOT THE SAME. --- You're right about the police, of course. If police in a Western country learned of a girl who was imprisoned for 5 years in a basement, they would be all over it in an instant. So would any normal person. And if (like this case) they knew the location, the girl would be rescued within a few hours. Her captors would be in custody, pending a court appearance and imprisonment. In China - "So what, it's just some girl. Lets get back to watching TV."
Mar 02, 2015 20:09 Report Abuse
I wasn't implying. There are cases like that everywhere. However you look, it's tragic. 'Child abuse' is similar object. How did West deal with it? UK's 'Jimmy-what-is-his-name, and other entertainers' was swept under the rug at the time. Recent Ozz School in news now is classic 'don't lose face, and keep quiet'. China is still coming out of the wall, but we're not much better.
Mar 07, 2015 11:01 Report Abuse
I see you've also found the trick to seeing anonymous posters.
Mar 02, 2015 18:05 Report Abuse
sad but true... bigger cities like BJ and SH are trying to be clean and civilized, the rest of the country has no intention of becoming a normal society
Mar 02, 2015 11:46 Report Abuse
The fact that this behavior is considered ok is what sets China apart from the rest of the world.
Mar 02, 2015 11:46 Report Abuse
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