An elderly Sichuan Province woman is left tied to a tree by her children for hours at a time because she suffers from Alzheimer's disease, reported the Chengdu Economic Daily.
The son and caretaker of octogenarian Xu Chunrong said he began tying his mother's wrist to the tree outside her home in the city of Neijiang several months ago for her own safety.
"If we don't tie her to the tree, she could wander off on her own," said Wang Yonggui, one of Xu's five children.
"Sometimes we have other work to do," said Wang's wife, "It is not that we are torturing her."
But neighbors and locals were horrified to discover how Xu's children left her tethered for hours on end, apparently with little to eat.
"We brought her fruit and she gobbled them up," said local resident Zheng Bing, who visited Xu on Friday with friends after learning the news.
"She was tied to the tree like a dog. She looked so pitiful," said Zheng.
Local police are currently looking into the case.
Cases in China involving abuse of mentally ill relatives in the absence of affordable healthcare are not uncommon.
In September, 8-year-old Zhao Ziyi made headlines after she was tied to a tree for years by her grandparents to control her fits of violence brought on by her mental illness, Henan Television reported.
Local officials said the family receives a low-income allowance, and that they cannot prevent Zhao's grandparents from tying her to the tree, reported the South China Morning Post.
