Woman, 39, is rescued after being chained and shackled in dingy metal cell at mother’s house for 20 years: Brazilian police officers arrested ‘drunk’ mother after searching property where daughter was being held captive
- Police freed Rosinalva da Silva from the Espírito Santo home in Brazil, where her mother kept her imprisoned for 20 years
- The 39-year-old woman was found with her feet and hands tied after police searched the home on Thursday
A disheveled woman has been rescued by police after being held captive in a dingy metal cell at her mother’s home for 20 years.
Rosinalva da Silva, 39, was found Thursday in Espírito Santo, Brazil, with her feet and hands tied in a darkened bedroom.
Her mother, whose name was not released, was under the influence of alcohol when police searched the home and arrested her, civilian police chief Carlos Braga said.
A man, whose name has not been released to the public, was also taken into custody.
Rosinalva da Silva was rescued from her mother’s home in Brazil on Thursday. Police said the 39-year-old woman was found chained and bound in a room where she had been held against her will for 20 years
A police officer takes care of Rosinalva da Silva after she was found locked in a room at her mother’s home in Espírito Santo, Brazil, on Thursday
Footage of the rescue showed police officers entering the property and going through a metal cell door – where they found the woman in a room where the only light came through a glass window.
Da Silva was then escorted out of the house while holding the chain that kept her from escaping for two decades.
Authorities said Da Silva was dehydrated and hungry when they discovered she had been hiding in the makeshift cell.
Paramedics took her to the regional hospital, where she is still being monitored and treated for severe malnutrition.
A police officer rescues Rosinalva da Silva from her mother’s home in Brazil, where she was locked in a room for 20 years. Authorities said the 39-year-old suffered from a mental illness brought on by the loss of her two children
A policeman walks through the metal cell door that prevented Rosinalva da Silva from escaping the room in her home where her mother kept her locked up for 20 years
Rosinalva da Silva is escorted into an ambulance before being transported to the Regional Hospital in Espírito Santo, Brazil. Doctors treat her for malnutrition
Da Silva’s mother reportedly kept her locked inside in response to the mental illness she struggled with after losing two children years ago.
Police said the mother chained da Silva and locked him in the room because it was “the only way” to deal with her aggressiveness.
Authorities are still investigating the incident to determine if other people were involved.