Woman arrested in the US

A Connecticut man whose stepmother allegedly kept him captive for 20 years escaped burning the small room in which he was retained, authorities said.

The authorities responded to the fire and rescued the 32 -year -old demacrated man from a 72 square feet room (6.7 square meters). The alleged captive weighed 68 pounds (30 kilograms) on his escape and was treated by smoke inhalation.

The man confessed that turning on the fire after last years of “prolonged abuse, hunger, severe negligence and inhuman treatment”, the police in Waterbury, Connecticut, he said.

His stepmother, accused of sustaining him captive and dying of hunger, was accused of kidnapping and cruelty. She has denied the accusations.

By explaining his reasoning to put the fire, the man told the police: “I wanted my freedom.”

Prosecutors claim that they gave him a sandwich and two small bottles of water per day for years. He was only left out of captivity for two hours a day to do tasks under the supervision of his stepmother.

Using disinfectant for hands, paper and a lighter, he set fire knowing that he could die, said a prosecutor in the court on Wednesday.

His stepmother, Kimberly Sullivan, 56, was at home at the time of the fire, but did not talk to the authorities when they arrived at the scene.

Mrs. Sullivan’s lawyer said the accusations were false.

“I was not locked in a room,” said the lawyer, Ioannis Kaloidis, to local media. “She did not hold it in any way. She provided food; she provided shelter. These accusations are impressed.”

The fire was established on February 17 and the Local Police arrested Mrs. Sullivan on Wednesday.

The Waterbury police chief Fernando Spagnolo, described the details of the “both heartbreaking and unimaginable” case.

Police said the victim told them that they kept him captive in his family’s house in Waterbury since approximately 11 years.

“He had been locked in the room for 20 years, and for 20 years he had been trying to get out of that room,” said the prosecutor.

The authorities were not clear when his father died, but said that his conditions worsened as a result.

When it was found, the authorities said it had a body mass index (BMI) of 11. The National Health Service says that a healthy range is between 18.5 and 24.9.

Police said that during their captivity, the unidentified man had not received medical or dental attention.