Claudio Bresciani/TT via AP
- A mother, aged 70, has been arrested on suspicion of unlawful deprivation of liberty and grievous bodily harm.
- She is believed to have kept her 41-year-old son captive for around 28 years.
- A relative discovered the man in a Stockholm flat covered in “urine, dirt, and dust,” according to the Swedish newspaper Expressen.
- The man was taken to the hospital to be treated for non-life-threatening injuries.
- The elderly woman denies the allegations.
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An elderly Swedish woman kept her adult son in captivity for 28 years, say police.
According to prosecutors, the 70-year-old was arrested on Tuesday on suspicion of unlawful deprivation of liberty and grievous bodily harm.
Police have now sealed off the apartment in suburban Stockholm and are seeking witnesses.
An unidentified female relative discovered the 41-years-old man. She entered the unlocked flat after learning that the man’s mother had been admitted to a hospital over the weekend, according to Swedish newspaper Expressen.
She told the paper that the apartment was like walking into a horror movie. The man was covered in “urine, dirt, and dust” and smelled “rotten.” His body was pockmarked with wounds and pus, and he was missing all of his teeth. He was also unable to speak coherently.
The relative called for an ambulance and the man was subsequently taken to a hospital and treated for non-life-threatening injuries, Stockholm prosecutor Emma Olsson told Reuters.
Olsson told the news agency: "He's now in hospital... I know that he needed surgery."
It is believed that the mother first imprisoned her child when he was around 13. He was taken out of school when he was in seventh grade, the relative told broadcaster SVT.
She explained to SVT that the family was "dysfunctional," and the mother had become "overprotective" of her son after losing a child some years earlier.
The mother denies the allegations. According to local police, an investigation is ongoing.