Mentally ill man moves out after 8 years in cage

A mentally ill man was released from a steel cage to begin a new life at a sanatorium in East China's Fujian province on Wednesday morning.

Hong Zhengqu spent eight years eating meals, using the toilet and sleeping in a 1-square meter cage inside a smaller-than-10 square meter stone house in Jinjiang, a part of the city of Quanzhou.

Police escorted Hong to a Jinjiang mental health institute after his mother died, the Southeast China Morning Post reported. His mother caged him eight years ago after he hurt people several times.

As the cage had rusted shut, police hammered it open. After being curled up in a cage, Hong's legs had seriously atrophied meaning he could no longer walk.

Hong's brother Hong Zijin carried him to the emergency car where Hong Zhengqu ate bread and communicated using his hands.

His brother had had "love problems" 20 years ago, Hong Zijin said. After a successful spell in hospital, Hong Zhengqu married a woman from Guizhou province.

They had had a boy and a girl, but Hong relapsed when his son was 4 and the wife fled, taking the children with her. The daughter is 24 years old today and the son is 22.

Dongshi township, a part of the city of Jinjiang, donated 10,000 yuan ($1,644) toward Hong's care.