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‘Mentally ill’ Chinese girl, 8, roped to tree outside by grandparents for nearly six years

Zhao Ziyi, from village in Henan province, was first tied up in 2010 when she reportedly became ‘dangerous’ and hit people after suffering a series of fevers

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Zhao Ziyi was first tied to a tree outside her grandparents’ Chinese home in 2010. Photo: SCMP Pictures
Viola Zhou

An eight-year-old Chinese girl has been tied to a tree by her grandparents for nearly six years because she reportedly suffers from mental illness, mainland media reports.

Zhao Ziyi’s grandparents said they first tied her to the tree outside their home some time in 2010 after she became mentally ill and started to hit people, Henan Television reported.

Zhao Ziyi began to act strangely after suffering a series of fevers in 2010, her grandparents say. Photo: SCMP Pictures
Zhao Ziyi began to act strangely after suffering a series of fevers in 2010, her grandparents say. Photo: SCMP Pictures
Footage from the report showed the rope tied around Zhao Ziyi’s body that is attached to a tree. Photo: SCMP Pictures
Footage from the report showed the rope tied around Zhao Ziyi’s body that is attached to a tree. Photo: SCMP Pictures
The barefooted girl was filmed with ropes tied around her neck and chest when reporters visited her home in a village in Luoyang, Henan province, in September.
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The footage showed that sometimes she was freed by her grandparents so she could walk around, before being tied up again.

The grandparents told a television reporter that Zhao had started to act strangely after she suffered a series of high fevers in 2010.

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The family had not been able to afford to send her to hospital for treatment.

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