"Children of the moon watch it all go by."

[claidheamhmor]

I found this really sad...poor kid. And what is is with the Austrians lately?

Suburban Tarzan

November 24 2008 at 07:00AM
By Kanina Foss and Alex Eliseev

He was the boy who sang in the overgrown garden and mimicked the hadedas.

But behind the "make-believe world" the 8-year-old had built lay a tragic tale of a boy allegedly imprisoned for four years in a suburban home in Olivedale, north of Johannesburg.

When he was finally set free, after his 68-year-old father had to be rushed to hospital, he was taken in by a neighbouring couple, who - because of his torn clothes and wild behaviour - called him the "Tarzan of suburbia".

The man suspected to be the captor is a former pilot, who, according to neighbours, developed an obsession with security and, over the years, converted his home into a fortress.

For four years the boy had no contact with the outside world, aside from the occasional repairmen who his father allowed him to watch as they worked.

He did not attend school and his only companion was the television.

Apart from the DVDs he was allowed to watch, the boy also monitored the security cameras his father had set up around the house and garden.

On November 12, the father - an Austrian - collapsed and called an ambulance.

Paramedics were forced to lift the front gate off its rails to get inside.

The boy, who had been ordered not to show himself, presumably ran and hid.

The father was taken to hospital, where he remains in an extremely frail condition.

Five days passed before some men working at a computer store nearby heard the boy's calls. He was on his abdomen, offering two 5c coins through a gap in the wall - because he wanted someone to buy him some food.

The men raised the alarm with Joburg Child Welfare, who arrived to find the child running up and down the garden.

The neighbour, Clint, arrived and tried to calm him down. But the boy was terrified and shouting "I must hide" and wanting the strangers to get off the property.

"All he could talk about was World War 2, Pearl Harbour and the Nazis," said Clint.

"He was clearly not stupid... The way he was brought up he thinks the World War is still going on."

All names have been withheld to protect the boy's identity.

Source: IOL

Comments

[claidheamhmor]

It sounds to me like the father's somewhat nutty...

[claidheamhmor]

I was wondering that too.

[ihlanya.livejournal.com]

Whenever I read stuff like this, I just want to scoop the kid up into my arms and hold him and never let him go.

[claidheamhmor]

Yep, I know exactly what you mean.

[windrider-09.livejournal.com]

Poor child. I've noticed that no information was offered on any other relatives.

[claidheamhmor]

Apparently, according to a caller on 702, the mother was a domestic worker who disappeared 4 or 5 years ago.

[windrider-09.livejournal.com]

poor kiddo. A mother that may be dead or completely indifferent, a paranoid nutty father.

[mysehnsucht.livejournal.com]

What is it with the Austrians and locking away their children?

[claidheamhmor]

There does seem to be a run on such events...

[teaser.livejournal.com]

ugh, just so awful. That poor boy. I wonder if he will ever get over that paranoia?

Apparently the mother was the domestic worker (not surprised the Austrians and Germans like darker skins) and disappeared a few years ago.

[claidheamhmor]

I hope the boy recovers...

[mighty-jo.livejournal.com]

Hm. Saw you on Beyers on Saturday, bout ten pee em. Was driving behind you. Lol. I mouthed the words 'natural 20'.
Waved, but you didn't see me.
Just thought I'd mention it.

[claidheamhmor]

Cool! We were on the way back from QoS at the time.