A 70-year-old Swedish woman has been arrested in Stockholm for allegedly imprisoning her son for up to 30 years.
Emma Olsson, a prosecutor in the Swedish capital, told Reuters that a man in his 40s was discovered by a relative at a house on Sunday.
“He’s now in hospital ... I know that he needed surgery,” Ms Olsson added.
The unnamed man was toothless, unable to speak and had sores and other injuries, according to the Swedish press. He was reportedly taken out of school at the age of 12.
The relative who found him told the Expressen newspaper: “I’m in shock, broken-hearted, but at the same time relieved. I’ve been waiting for this day for 20 years because I figured out that she was totally controlling his life, but I never imagined the extent of it.”
“I’m just thankful that he got help and is going to survive,” she added.
The relative said that the house where she discovered the man “smelled rotten” and was covered in “urine, dirt and dust”.
Police cordoned off the flat in Hangine, a district in the south of Stockholm, after hospital staff informed them about the case.
A police spokesperson said: “We are looking into how long the son may have been imprisoned, but we assume it’s been a long period of time.”
It is not known why the woman held her son captive.
She denies charges of false imprisonment and grievous bodily harm, according to Ms Olsson.
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