School shock saw mum lock up son for 28 years

A Swedish woman has been arrested on suspicion of having kept her 41-year-old son locked in her Stockholm apartment for 28 years.

A relative found the man emaciated, with infected leg wounds and having lost most of his teeth, Swedish newspapers reported. He was discovered on Monday and taken to hospital, where he had surgery.

The 70-year-old mother has denied charges of false imprisonment and causing grievous bodily harm.

Swedish media reported that the relative who found the man had tried repeatedly to visit him, but the mother had always prevented her from entering the flat. She made another attempt on Monday because she had heard that the mother was away receiving treatment in hospital.

The woman, who has not been named, told Stockholm newspaper Aftonbladet: ‘‘Nothing had been washed and cleaned for many, many years. I did not want to touch anything.’’

She told Expressen, another newspaper: ‘‘It was like walking into a horror film. There was rubbish everywhere. It stank of rubbish and urine. It was dark and quiet. Then I heard something in the kitchen.

‘‘There in the darkness was a man sitting on a rug on the floor. When I saw him, he stood up slowly and whispered my name. After all the years, he recognised me immediately.’’

Media reports said that the mother had taken her son out of school when he was 12 after a traumatic event. She had been shocked so badly that she did not want to let him out of the flat any more.

‘‘I am shocked and desperate,’’ the relative said. ‘‘But I’m also relieved. I have been waiting for this day for 20 years, because I know that she totally controlled his life.’’