11-Year-Old Chinese Boy Chained Up Like An Animal By His Own Family. Why?
An 11-year-old boy is chained up like a dog by his own family in a shocking example of how mental disorders are dealt with in rural China.
By Sadho Ram — 29 Nov 2013, 03:35 PM — Updated over 10 years ago
In a shocking example of (mis)handling mental disorders, an 11-year-old mentally-ill Chinese boy has been chained in rural China
He Zili has been pictured walking along the narrow lanes of his village shackled to his father, who did not want to be named, in the eastern coastal province of Zhejiang.
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Eleven-year-old He Zili stands outside his home as his father holds onto the chain locked around his ankle.
Image via dailymail.co.ukThe boy was also seen chained to a pillar at his home.
Zili injured his head when he was one year old and started suffering from mental disorders.
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Boy's grandfather cries as he holds his foot, which is chained to a pillar, at their home in Zhejiang province
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According to his family, they had no choice but to restrain him on chains as he had a tendency to attack those around him
He Zili's grandfather holds onto the chains at their home in Zhejiang province, China
Image via dailymail.co.ukZili is currently being looked after by his physically disabled grandfather and his intellectually handicapped father after his mother died of cancer.
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According to He Zili's family, they had no choice but to restrain him on chains as he had a tendency to attack those around him
Image via dailymail.co.ukZili plays in a yard as his grandfather holds onto a chain locked around his ankle at their home in Zhejiang province
Mental illness is not particularly looked upon in China
As per a statistics released by China's National Centre for Mental Health, shows that over 100 million people suffer from mental illness in China in 2009.
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The case of Zili shows the problems China faces with how it deals with mental disorders
Image via dailymail.co.ukThe statistics also revealed that over 160 million people citizens afflicted with serious mental illnesses such as schizophrenia and paranoid psychosis.
dailymail.co.ukSuch figures indicate that one in every 13 Chinese in 2009 had a mental health problem. Back in the 1950s, the reported ratio of Chinese adults suffering from mental illness was just 2.7 per cent, or one in every 37 Chinese citizens.
Eleven-year-old He Zili's grandfather, who did not want to be named, wipes away tears from his eyes
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