Jamshedpur, Dec. 11: A 17-year-old boy was found locked at a house at a colony in Sonari that was deserted by his family five days ago.

The boy, Abhishek Das, is said to be mentally “unsound” and could not provide information about the whereabouts of his parents.

According to B.K. Pandey, a neighbour who informed the police, the family — Abhishek’s father K.K. Das, his wife and two daughters — had quietly left their ground-floor residence about five days ago without even informing their neighbours.

It was Abhishek’s continuous moan for the past five days that brought the boy’s plight to their notice, Pandey said.

“Initially I thought the boy was making the noise to draw the attention of his family members. But I was shocked this morning to see that he was locked in one of the ground-floor rooms with no one in the house,” Pandey further said.

The neighbours added that Abhishek went into a depression after his mother and Das’ first wife committed suicide five years ago.

“Das started neglecting the child and when he married Jyoti three years back the boy almost became mad,” one of the neighbours added.

One of the daughters who went away with the family is from Das’s first marriage and the other one from Jyoti.

Dhiraj Chatterjee Adhikari, another neighbour, said Das earlier worked in some company but left the job after the death of his first wife.

“In the last three years he had made friends with some high-profile people and probably got money from them to sustain his family. On a couple of occasions, I had seen police visit his house but Das managed to go scot-free each time, probably due to his connections,” said Adhikari.

He further alleged that in the last couple of years Das’ wife and sister-in-law got into flesh trade.

Police officials who reached the spot said they are not aware of Das’ past. “We have just come to know of this and would investigate the case with this perspective,” an official said.

Officer-in-charge of the local police station Sudhir Surine said they are trying to locate the family and find out a reason for their flight. “In the meanwhile, we shall try and provide shelter to the child,” he added.