Rescued After Neighbor Reports Loud Noises
No Contact With Outside World for 27 Years... No Identification Card
A Polish woman, who was believed to have gone missing at the age of 15, was found to have been confined in her home by her parents for as long as 27 years.
On October 15 (local time), the British media outlet The Sun reported that a woman named Mirela (42), living in the southern Polish city of Swietochlowice, was rescued by the police. At the end of July, a neighbor who heard loud noises coming from Mirela's parents' house called the police. When officers arrived, they discovered Mirela locked in a small room inside the house.
Since Mirela disappeared in 1998, her parents reportedly told neighbors that their daughter was missing or that she had met her biological parents. The neighbors, believing these claims, thought that only Mirela's parents lived in the house.
When Mirela was rescued, she was found with severe wounds and swelling on her legs. The medical staff who treated her stated, "If she had arrived at the hospital any later, she could have died from infection." After receiving inpatient treatment, Mirela reportedly returned to the house where she originally lived.
"Wounds on Her Legs... Looked Like a Grandmother"
Mirela had been confined in a small room, completely isolated from the outside world, for 27 years. Investigations revealed that she had never visited a hospital, dentist, or beauty salon, and did not even possess an ID card. Neighbors who saw Mirela at the time of her rescue said, "We were truly shocked when the police brought her out of the house," adding, "She looked just like a grandmother."
Mirela's parents have not been detained. This is because there is still no direct evidence that the door was locked or that Mirela was physically forced to remain in the room. However, investigative authorities and social welfare agencies plan to thoroughly investigate the circumstances of the case, including the reasons why the parents confined their daughter for 27 years.
Similar cases have occurred around the world. There was a report of a woman who was confined to a room by her family for 18 years near Naples, Italy. In March of this year, the story of a 32-year-old male victim in Connecticut, United States, who was confined for about 20 years by his stepmother, also came to light. This man had been locked in a room since childhood, with restricted access to food, water, and the bathroom, and reportedly managed to escape only after setting the room on fire.
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