Luo Jindong, 64, bought his wife from people traffickers and locked her up after she 'became aggressive'
A builder who caged his mentally ill slave 'wife' for 12 years is appealing for help to get her medical treatment - and to make her prison more comfortable.
And, incredibly, local media seems to be supporting him.
Chinese construction worker Luo Jindong, 64, bought his wife from people traffickers and locked her up for over a decade after she started suffering mental problems.
He said he had been born into a poor family and right from an early age been left with responsibility for raising his younger brothers and sisters.
This was a full-time job, which he says left him no time to think about himself and in particular no time to find a wife and start a family of his own.
At the age of 50, with his siblings finally settled and happy, he had realised he was left with nothing for himself other than some savings and he had decided to invest those in paying people traffickers to provide him with a wife.
So in 2000 he had handed over the cash and was given a young woman, who he married in his hometown of Genzi, near the city of Gaozhou in southern China's Guangdong Province.
A year later she was pregnant, and gave birth to the son he had always wanted, Luo Jinhui.
He did not know who the woman was and said he had never asked her name.
She had been known simply as wife to him, and later mum to his son.
In fact, he said, his mother had kept a tight rein on his wife, keeping her in the house while he was away at work, and so the young woman had no need for a name.
But a year after the birth of his son, his wife started to suffer from mental problems and became aggressive, including hitting her mother-in-law.
After discussing what to do with his mum, Luo Jindong had decided to lock up his wife in a small room.
That was in 2002 - and she has been there ever since.
He said: "What else could I do? I had no money for medical treatment and very little money to repair our house.
"I had to work every day just to earn enough to feed me and my family, and I wanted my son to still have his mother around.
"I really loved her very much. If there had been any other way I would not have locked her up for such a long time.
"I cook food for her every day before I go to work and I also arrange for her to have a shower every few days, but I just never have the money for hospital bills."
But now he is appealing for donations to help put his life back on track after saying he can no longer afford to work as hard as a construction worker as next year he will be 65 and wants to give his son a future.
A few years ago Luo Jindong’s mother died, and his son, now 13, who until recently had been a model pupil with top grades, was expelled for getting into trouble and fighting with another boy.
He said: "I don't blame my son. Since he lost his grandmother a few years ago things have been tough for him because I am never there to put him on the right tracks.
"He has been home now for two weeks and no matter how hard it is I want to get him back to school. I want him to have a bright future, not like me."
He added he was now appealing for warm-hearted people to give him donations to help repair the family home, which he said was in danger of collapse, and to get medical treatment for his wife.
Helpfully, local media even printed a telephone number for anyone who wants to help to call and offer what they can to improve the situation of the man and his son and 'wife'.
