Pictures have exposed the horrific conditions a woman in Poland was forced to endure for nearly three decades after she was recently discovered by police.
Known only as 'Mirella', the 42-year-old woman is believed to have been locked inside the same room for 27 years and was allegedly just days away from death when she was finally freed by local authorities, who had been called to the property after reports of a disturbance.
Despite telling police that a hospital trip wasn't necessary, the woman's leg wounds and infection convinced them otherwise and they were right to do so, as a few more days living inside the room could have proved deadly.
Mirella is not the first woman to have been kept in shocking conditions by parents or carers, with one man in the US setting fire to his stepmother's property as a way of escaping what locals described as a 'house of horrors'.
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Other young children in Spain were kept hostage in their own home for several years as their parents struggled with Covid syndrome and a fear of the outside world.
But Mirella's case represents one of the longest and most horrifying in recent memory, as local media reports that she was kept in the same room for all of her adult life, having first gone missing at the age of 15.
Łukasz Pach, director of the Emergency Medical Service in Katowice, previously told Polish newspaper Fakt: "Our ambulance was dispatched by the police.
"As we were transporting her to the hospital, the patient told us she hadn't left her house in over 20 years."
Pictures have now shown off the terrible surroundings Mirella was subject to since 1998, with her room very much resembling that of a young child's, as it is filled with children's toys.
In a statement published on Tuesday, local police said: "At the scene, the officer spoke with the resident and questioned her about the circumstances of the incident.
"The woman denied any argument or violence in the apartment, merely a verbal altercation between her and her husband. The man was not home at the time of the intervention.
"During the investigation, a 42-year-old woman emerged from one of the rooms in the apartment.
"When questioned by the officer, she also stated that there had been no argument in the apartment and that she did not require assistance.
"However, due to visible swelling in her legs and difficulty moving, the officer, concerned for her health, called an ambulance.
"The medical team decided to transport the woman to the hospital for further examination."
It is claimed that Mirella's mother told police she had been meaning to throw these toys away, while she also allegedly told a neighbour around 30 years ago that Mirella had been kidnapped.
The mother also suggested that she used to go out with her daughter and visit friends in the garden, but also admitted that she couldn't remember when that was.
A fundraiser to help her out, set up by neighbours has also been launched, which can be donated to here.
"We went to the hospital almost every day. Mirella is a very nice girl, she has so many dreams. She's never been to a doctor, she didn't have ID, she wasn't insured, that's not normal," the fundraiser organiser explained.
"She has no insurance, isn't even registered as unemployed, has no money, and doesn't exist in the eyes of the system.
"We bought her ointments, a jacket, and shoes, because she had nothing. We want to help her long-term, also providing legal assistance."
Topics: Crime, Mental Health, World News
James Moorhouse