The Navi Mumbai police and social workers rescued a 22-year-old man Raj Patel who was locked up in his 100 sq feet bedroom of a duplex flat for ten years, reports The Indian Express. His family lives in the lower floor of the duplex home. The flat is located in Sanjivani building in Belapur and belongs to the family. Raj's father is a businessman and has nine other children.

Sharada Shah, President of the Damini Sena who helped rescue Raj reportedly says that all other tenants except the family had moved out following litigation issues. “They (the family) continued to stay in the building without any water or electricity supply,” she was quoted in the report. Sharada also reportedly said that Raj's step-mother and step-sisters wanted Raj to live separately.

According to the social workers, it was only after contacting the local police they could rescue Raj and no one ever tried to contact the family.

The social workers reported that the the floor where Raj lived was covered in faeces. “It was terrifying to walk upstairs. The passage next to the lift was filled with faecal matter. The place was stinking because of the faecal matter all around the room," says Shah. Raj would get food covered in newspapers, but he had reportedly used them to cover the faecal matter in his room. The watchman too had complained that someone would throw faeces from the room's window.

When the rescuers came they found Raj naked trying to cover himself with a gunny bag, according to the report.

Raj was hesitant to step into the ambulance but did so only after being given two vada pavs to eat. "It was only when we gave him two bags of vada pav that Raj followed our instructions,” said Shah. The family did not object to Raj being taken away.

Sharada Shah said that the last time Raj was seen out of his own was when he was a teenager. "He survived on a bare minimum supply of food and water. It looked like he had not taken a bath for the last 10 years," she says in the report.

Raj was seen clutching two polythene bags and repeatedly saying 'Dada food' when he was taken out of his confinement. Raj has been admitted to DY Patil hospital.

The Navi Mumbai police has decided not to file charges against the family for the moment but instead focus on providing psychiatric assistance to Raj and his family members. We will soon decide what sort of action needs to be taken against the family,” said a police officer.