A 55-year-old man has been arrested after allegedly keeping a 16-year-old girl hidden in his house for 24 days in Hunan province.
Image via @中国妇女报/Weibo
According to The Paper, the man, surnamed Long, had dug a hole in his bedroom and held a female student captive as a “sex slave” from February to March. On March 15, Fenghuang Public Security Bureau arrested Long and officers are now gathering further evidence for the case against him.
On March 27, disturbing images and videos surfaced of Long’s home and the 4-square-meter dwelling where he kept the girl chained to a wall. Inside the jail cell-like room, wedding decorations were pasted on the walls and an electrical socket was installed as well as a single light bulb. Food rations and containers are also visible in video footage taken inside the bedroom prison.
Multiple reports have revealed that Long moved back to his hometown four years ago, after years of working elsewhere as a laborer. The investigation has concluded that Long has remained single for over 50 years, earning a living by soliciting passenger rides using a minivan taxi (a common sight outside many railway stations in China).
Image via @红星新闻/Weibo
Long spent a considerable amount of time building his in-house prison cell, purchasing an iron ring and chains among other items. On February 13, Long drove to Shanjiang, a town in Hunan, with a sign at the front of the car soliciting a ‘car pool’ (搭顺风车).
He eventually picked up a 16-year-old student who needed a ride, unaware of the man’s malicious intentions. While driving, Long borrowed the girl’s phone, which is when she realized something wasn’t right, promptly jumping out of the moving vehicle. Long pulled the car over and chased her, ultimately gaining control over his victim. After tying up her wrists, taping her mouth and covering the upper half of her body with a nylon sack, Long transported the girl back to his makeshift dungeon where he connected her to the wall using iron chains, which were attached to her neck. He then locked her inside the hole.
The girl was rescued by Fenghuang Public Security Bureau 24 days after her disappearance. Relatives of the girl said “at the time of the girl’s rescue, her entire body was covered in filth and her hands would not move,” according to Red Star News. It’s not immediately clear how authorities managed to track the missing girl to Long’s home.
The police report noted that the victim was sexually assaulted several times, and that pornographic DVDs were found in the suspect’s bedroom. The victim has received both physical and mental therapy following the tragic experience.
[Cover image via @红星新闻/Weibo]
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