Dong Hai,46, was caged in a five square metre stone shelter in his parent's back yard when they grew frightened that he could hurt someone.
Dong Watou and his wife Xiao Hong from Longhai, southeast China's Fujian Province said they had appealed to hospitals for help when their only son grew distressed and they feared for his mental health.
They visited hospitals in the province but were turned away. The couple spent all their savings on medical treatment in a year and had to stop their son's treatment.
As time goes on the couple, who are now nearly 70 years old, say their greatest fear is what will happen to Hai when they die.
The Chinese man who has been caged in a tiny stone cell for 30 YEARS by his own parents
* Dong Hai has been caged inside stone shelter in China's Fujian province
* Five square metre space has been his home since the age of sixteen
* His parents use a gap in the stone wall to pass through cans of food
* They spray water into the cage to clean their son who has no physical contact
* Hai hasn't set foot outside the cage in thirty years
By Sara Smyth
PUBLISHED: 13:55 GMT, 23 August 2013 | UPDATED: 18:15 GMT, 23 August 2013
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A man who displayed signs of mental health problems as a teenager has been locked up by his parents for 30 years.
Dong Hai,46, was caged in a five square metre stone shelter in his parent's back yard when they grew frightened that he could hurt someone.
Dong Watou and his wife Xiao Hong from Longhai, southeast China's Fujian Province said they had appealed to hospitals for help when their only son grew distressed and they feared for his mental health.
Caged: Xiao Hong uses a hole in the stone wall to wash her son Dong Hai inside the stone cage with a cloth
Caged: Xiao Hong uses a hole in the stone wall to wash her son Dong Hai inside the stone cage with a cloth
Trapped: Dong Hai crouches in the darkened corner of his stone cell, where his parents keep him locked away from the world
Trapped: Dong Hai crouches in the darkened corner of his stone cell, where his parents keep him locked away from the world
prisoner
prisoner
Desperation: The Chinese couple looked for help and tried to get their son treatment when he displayed symptoms of mental health problems, but they were turned away by local hospitals
They visited hospitals in the province but were turned away. The couple spent all their savings on medical treatment in a year and had to stop their son's treatment.
As time goes on the couple, who are now nearly 70 years old, say their greatest fear is what will happen to Hai when they die.
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The couple's house is no different from others in the village, except the stone shelter in the yard.
Hai hasn't stepped outside the bare hut for the past 30 years
Food is passed to him through a hole in the wall and each day Hai's father uses a scoop, which is tied on top of a long bamboo pole, to shovel out excrement.
