Details emerge of woman chained in hut

Authorities in Xuzhou, Jiangsu province, on Monday published details of an investigation involving a woman with eight children who had been found chained in a hut. They said human trafficking was not involved.

The woman — known by the surname Xiao before she changed it to Yang — has been sent to a hospital.

A video of Xiao, wearing thin clothes and with an iron chain around her neck confining her to a dilapidated hut, first appeared on Chinese social media on Jan 28. It went viral during the Chinese New Year. The police confirmed that she had been reported missing in Yunnan province.

According to the authorities, she was observed with abnormal speech and behavior in 1996 when she returned to her hometown. Another woman, surnamed Sang, who lived in the same village, took her to Jiangsu for treatment, promising Xiao's mother she would look for a good husband for her.

However, Xiao got lost when they arrived in Jiangsu's Donghai county, and Sang never reported the matter to police or informed the woman's relatives, the authorities said.

Police confirmed that Xiao and a man surnamed Dong are the biological parents of eight children. A previous notice issued by local authorities said the couple married in 1998. Villagers and relatives said Xiao beat her children and elderly people during bouts with mental illness.

The police are now investigating Sang and Dong.