Cruel parents: Kept mentally ill son locked in a barn for 23 years because they don't want him seen in public

The couple said they could not afford the medical fees needed to treat their son

A MENTALLY ill man has been found chained up in a barn – after being imprisoned there for 23 years by his cruel parents.

Lu Zhi, 41, first started showing signs of mental instability when he was just 18 years old, when someone stole £591 he had saved from his work.



The man was found naked cowering in the cold barn



The 41-year-old is given food and wrapped in a blanket

He is reportedly unable to communicate properly after being imprisoned for 23 years

The man from Shiqiao village in Wuhan, capital of Central China’s Hubei Province, struggled to come to terms with his misfortune and slowly began acting aggressively towards those around him, including his parents.

Lu Xunyao, Lu Zhi’s 72-year-old dad, said he and his wife, Liu Shuangquan, had taken him to hospitals, but doctors would only treat him for sums of money they could not afford.

The parents therefore decided to keep their son in their family barn, where they used to house cows, and where they made Lu Zhi sleep on straw.

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Lu Xunyao also put chains around his own son’s ankles to prevent him from running away and harming others and gave him with three meals every day.

Lu Zhi, who had been living this incarnated life for 23 years, is now unable to communicate properly and still shows signs of severe mental problems.

He was found by volunteers in Wuhan City after villagers exposed the shocking state of affairs in his family.

He has since been freed and local non-governmental organisations have put him up in a rescue shelter, where he will be given more humane care by professionals.

While Lu Zhi’s condition may not be irreversible, he will at least be given a better quality of life.



The man’s father insists he could not afford the medical fees to treat his boy



The tragic man’s mother fed her boy three meals a day while he was chained in the barn.