Free at last: Gal locked up 15 years by mom
By Li Fangchao (China Daily)
Updated: 2005-07-23 07:10

A 16-year-old girl, kept prisoner in her own home for 15 years by her mentally ill mother, was rescued by authorities in Harbin, Northeast China, this week.

On Tuesday, with television news cameras rolling, police broke into the pair's apartment and took Jiang Wei, 16, and her disturbed mother, Jiang Binlan, 56, to hospital.

The mother had kept her daughter locked up for 15 years, police said.

The girl's uncle, Jiang Youzhi, has said he will care for his niece from now on.

A neighbour in Jiang Binlan's apartment block, Chen Gui, raised the alarm.

He had the vague impression that a woman and her daughter lived in the building where he has resided for the past 15 years, but he had never seen them.

A month ago, he found a neatly folded letter written by the daughter on his doorstep. It was a cry for help and Chen went to the local authorities.

"If a person really had a soul, I would like my soul to be a bird, flying out of this house, flying towards the vast sky, flying high," the letter said.

Although the letter was found on June 22, police did not act immediately because they wanted to ensure the teenager's safety.

The story first captured the public's imagination in the capital of Heilongjiang on July 7, when a local newspaper reported the apparently unbelievable tale.

The national media reported the details shortly afterwards, and the local media updated events daily.

The report evoked great concern as people wondered how it was possible for two people to survive while remaining cut off from the outside world.

As the story continued to unfold, the media reported new information.

The mother, Jiang Binlan, had severe schizophrenia. She also developed severe tuberculosis shortly after giving birth to Jiang Wei, said Jiang Youzhi, the uncle.

The disease forced her to retire early from her job at a construction company, and a sudden divorce from her husband also contributed to the irrational belief that someone might try to take her daughter away from her, Jiang Youzhi said.

After a discussion with Jiang's relatives, police finally broke in. The videotape showed the screaming mother crying for help and struggling with two men. The pale girl kept muttering something while a man carried her out.

Liu Zhiming, who lives in the community, said other neighbours would help the unfortunate family.

"We are providing food and clothes for them," he said. "And we will help support this girl in the future."

Jiang Youzhi said the story of his niece and his sister seemed surreal. "If not for the intervention of the media, I could not dream it would be like this," he said.

Liu Shuyuan, the TV reporter who reported the story first, said she continued to receive dozens of calls from strangers asking about the girl.

"Now," she said, "I think it's time to let them have peace."

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