Father arrested for allegedly caging mentally disabled son for 20 years

A 73-year-old Japanese man who admitted to locking his mentally ill son in a cage for more than two decades was arrested on Saturday. Photo / 123rf

A 73-year-old Japanese father who admitted to locking his mentally ill son in a cage for more than two decades has been arrested.

Yoshitane Yamasaki was taken into custody on suspicion of imprisoning his son, now 42, in a cage that sits no more than 1m high and less than 2m wide.

"I made my son live in a cage for more than 20 years because he has mental problems and acted up," he earlier told city officials, according to Japanese public broadcaster NHK.

Local news reports said the son was first confined to the shed when he was 16, and was acting violently. His family built the cage so he wouldn't bang on the walls or cause other damage.

It has been reported that the cage was in a hut next to Yamasaki's house in the city of Sanda.

According to Japanese news outlets, the son ate meals with the rest of the family and was allowed to bathe, but was put back into the wooden cage when no one was home.

The son is believed to suffer from a bent back and has since been in the care of a social welfare facility.

The family did not use any welfare services for his care, so the city government was unaware that he had a disability until someone reported the situation in January.

The police have reportedly confirmed that Yamasaki had admitted all the allegations.