Woman Prevents Daughter From Leaving The House For 26 Years
How long can your parents ground you before you begin to feel like you are losing your mind? Whatever your answer may be, we are sure the answer is not up to 26 years.
42-year-old Nadezhda Bushueva hasn’t left her mother’s house in the village of Arefinsky, in western Russia since she was 16.
Bushueva’s shocking story was originally featured on Russian television show “By the Way” last week, and has since gone viral in the media.
According to Russian media, Bushueva has not set foot outside her family home for 26 years, despite being in perfect health, because he mother didn’t allow it.
It is gathered that until this month, she has been kept isolated by her mother for years to “protect her from the dangers of the outside world”.
Bushueva had reportedly not washed her hair in 12 years, as evidenced by the giant clump on her head, and hadn’t had a change of clothes in even longer.
She only ventured into the village because of her mother’s ill health and need of medical attention.
Neighbours testify that Tatyana has always been overly protective of her daughter but things spiralled out of control when the older woman retired.
Bushueva was in 8th grade when her mother started forbidding her from going out with other teenagers in the village, and in a couple of years the two had become complete recluses.
Intervention from others were rejected as Tatyana constantly told everyone they were fine and people should mind their own business.
After a while, villagers stopped trying to convince Tatyana to give her daughter more freedom and everyone just went on with their lives.
It remains unclear how Tatyana got her daughter accustomed to the isolated lifestyle but it is believed the girl must have slowly gotten used to things.
When Tatyana took ill earlier this month and needed hospitalisation was when Bushueva ventured out of their home for the first time in 26 years.
Her appearance shocked villagers as she looked unkempt and like she hadn’t bathed in a while.
The assumptions proved correct as when she was brought to the head of the local council, Vasily Tovarnov, the woman revealed that she hadn’t washed her hair in 12 years, hadn’t changed her clothes in even longer than that, had been living on cat food for years and had been sharing a bed with her mother and their cats, some of which were dead…
“So what if there are dead cats on the couch? Maybe I’ll die soon here on this couch as well. My life is worse than that of a cat. A cat has more rights. I am not alive, I don’t even exist. I’m a walking dead,” Nadezhda Bushueva allegedly said.
Despite the above statement, and her apparent desire to “find work and get a passport”, Nadezhda didn’t seem eager to change her lifestyle. Larisa Mikheeva, director of the social security services of the Vachsky district, told RIA Novosty that the 42-year-old cannot be forced into rehabilitation, and that so far she has refused all help, saying that she likes the way she lives now, and that it suits her.
“She is not disabled, she has no mental illness. She is an adult, she just lives with her mother and is used to this lifestyle,” Mikheeva said. “A person must voluntarily agree to receive some services. If they are not mentally unable to make decision, we cannot legally force them.”
Mikheeva added that both social workers and neighbors offered to help Nadezhda at least clean her home before her mother returned from the hospital. They even showed up at her house with garbage bags and cleaning products, but she flat out refused.
“It is very difficult to help people when they are healthy according to documents, and to make them change their idea of life if that person does not want to change anything,” the social worked said.
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