18-year-old chained up by parents

Girl’s family said she did not receive medical treatment for several years because they were unable to afford it.

FAISALABAD:

The family of an 18-year-old girl chained her in a room after she allegedly became insane.

The girl’s family said that she did not receive any medical treatment for several years because they were unable to afford the expense.

Samundari resident Iram’s mother Naila Bibi said that her daughter had gone insane after she contracted typhoid a few years ago.  “We often heard her screaming out and eventually we needed to report it,” said a neighbour Haider Sattar. “I called the police and they have filed a case against the family,” he said.

Civil Lines Police SHO Raheem Qazi said “We have questioned the family and they said that the girl was being held because she was a danger to herself.

We have lodged a case,” he said. A doctor, who examined Iram said that she had lost her mental faculties but that it could not have been due to the typhoid.

“The family have locked her up and she has obviously been abused,” said Dr Bahadur Qamar.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 26^th, 2011.