An unmarried, attractive handicapped woman is being locked up in a cage here for fear that she would escape from the house. Family members of Hamida, 30, say they don't have any alternative than confining her to the cage. The only reprieve Hamida gets is when she is allowed out of the cage to attend to the calls of nature. Hamida has been diagnosed as suffering from a certain psychological disorder. The disease is not new to the family as many of its members had already been affected by it, though at a lesser level. Tranquilizers are regularly given to Hamida to ease her sufferings. Hamed Al-Salahi, the girl's brother, said the family even abandoned their rundown home in Al-Salah village in Al-Leith as someone told their father that it was under a spell. Hamida's sisters offer food and drink to the incarcerated woman. Two cages are now Hamida's abode – one during the day to protect her from the scorching heat and another for the night, placed in the outer yard. Al-Salahi also suffers from autism and complained that their dilapidated home provides no shelter from rain, cold and heat and that everyone in the community has walked out on them, treating them as outcasts. – Okaz __
