For the last 21 years, Muhammad Abkar, a mentally disabled 36-year-old Yemeni, has been restrained with iron chains in a small room because his family has been fearful of his behavior. Abkar's uncle, Muhammad Odhabi, who is 76 and his only family member, is desperate for help. Abkar lives with Odhabi, in Al-Zarqa village, located in Jizan Region, who said his nephew suffers from mental retardation and mental illness. He said the man started having serious problems when he was a teenager. “Ahmad was not mentally disturbed when he was a child, but the symptoms of the mental illness started appearing when he was 15 and it got severe after the death of his parents,” Odhabi said. “There is nobody left to care for him but me and I don't possess the financial capability to treat him. For this reason, I tied him up with chains and placed him in that room.” Odhabi called on officials to look into his nephew's case and provide treatment as soon as possible. “There are medicines that my nephew must take regularly to pacify him and kill his pain, but these medicines are scarce and I cannot afford to buy them or bring them from the hospitals,” the uncle said. “I'm afraid that after my death, my nephew will not have anyone to care for him.” Odhabi said he restrained his nephew to protect him and others from harm after several hospitals failed to treat him. The uncle said he is distressed by his nephew's condition and by his having to keep him in a room that is not clean or suitable for a human being to live in, but there are no alternatives. Odhabi said his nephew always tears off all his clothes without realizing what he is doing. Abkar freed himself one occasion and escaped to a mountainous area where he was found starving and thirsty, his uncle said.
