Sunaina (in blue sari) being taken to the Jawaharlal Nehru hospital in Bhagalpur on Sunday evening. Picture by Amit Kumar

Bhagalpur, Oct. 24: For over 10 years, Sunaina Jha didn’t see the sky or feel the raindrops.

Sunaina, 40, also known as Suman, was kept in solitary confinement by her father at the family home at Kastikeri village in Sultanganj block, about 30km southwest of Bhagalpur town, since 2001, a year after she returned to her parents’ house following the collapse of her marriage.

The woman, presumed by local residents to be “mad” and who lived on morsels of food — mainly chapatti or rice — thrown inside by neighbours through a small gap in the locked main door, was rescued yesterday evening by a team of Bhagalpur district police and the state women’s commission. She was admitted to Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College Hospital here.

Doctors attending on her today ruled out symptoms of mental derangement. “But she is in a state of extreme depression. She looks like living in a permanent state of horror,” a doctor attending to her said. Hospital superintendent Dr Binod Prasad said Sunaina was suffering from malnutrition. “We will carry out proper treatment to ensure her recovery. We are still in the process of examining her,” he said.

The travails of Sunaina, daughter of Bindeshwari Jha, began soon after she got married around 15 years ago. Her husband began cheating on her and deserted her four years after the marriage to marry Banmala, Sunaina’s sister. After the two began living as man and wife, Sunaina returned to her parents’ home in Kastikeri in 2000.

Villagers say her plight worsened with the death of her mother a year later. Subsequently, the family suffered a series of tragedies: her elder brother, Anil Kumar Jha, died while three other brothers — Balmiki, Sanjoy and Vikash — left home for unknown destinations.

The villagers told The Telegraph that Bindeshwari, a farmer who owned some land, started co-habiting with Sunaina’s sister-in-law Kiran Devi (the widow of her deceased elder brother). The two then began torturing Sunaina.

A village woman recounted that one morning 10 years ago, Bindeshwari and Kiran locked up the four-room, one-storied house and shifted to Kareli village in Nathnagar block, about 20km away. Sunaina had access to two rooms, the others being locked and bolted.

“There was nothing for Sunaina to eat or drink for the last 10 years. No one came to help her, we haven’t seen her father or any other family member visiting the house,” she said.

The villagers said Sunaina had access to one window, which opened out into the backyard of the house that is surrounded by a boundary wall and is tucked away a few metres away from the main village road. The shrubs and grass that had grown in the untended gardens at the front and back of the house had covered all views of the outside world with even sunlight just about managing to come in.

“She behaved like a mad person. She turned abusive and foul-mouthed when she felt hungry. She lived on the food and water given to her through a hole in the main door of the house,” said Sunita, a neighbour. Other women concurred. “Imagine the condition of a woman living in confinement without proper food, water or sanitation for 10 years,” said one of them.

The villagers said they didn’t dare rescue the woman as they felt she was mentally unsound and also because they feared the police would implicate them.

Sunaina’s plight came to the fore yesterday when a vernacular daily published her picture. Responding to the photograph, the police and the state women’s commission head, Kahkashan Parveen, rushed to the crumbling house and rescued her after breaking open the door.

“We will investigate the inhuman treatment meted out to the woman by her father and other relatives. We will take action to punish the guilty in the case,” said Bhagalpur senior superintendent of police Sanjay Singh.

A police official said they found the condition of the house “hellish” with the stink unbearable.