Bruno, who suffers from picacism, has been kept tied by the hands and with a helmet on his head since 2005.
The new Sardinian Garante for persons deprived of their liberty, Irene Testa, described this 'treatment' as 'closer to the concept of torture than to that of cure'.
Bruno's illness, which leads him to ingest everything, must be dealt with in a humane and appropriate manner, not through deprivation of personal liberty.
This is an abominable situation that requires rapid and concrete intervention.
For sixteen years, the only cure for Bruno, an Italian boy suffering from a disease that leads him to ingest anything, has been his hands tied and a mask on his face like that of Hannibal Lecter, the serial killer protagonist of the Thomas Harris novels.
This particular pathology is called picacism. The young man is a psychiatric patient admitted to the Aias facility in Cortoghiana, in Sulcis-Iglesiente in Sardinia (Italy), suffering from picacism, a terrible pathology that leads him to swallow anything that comes his way.
The new 'Garante della Sardegna' for persons deprived of their liberty, Irene Testa, visited the care facility for the disabled in Sulcis-Iglesiente where Bruno is hospitalised. After witnessing the chilling treatment reserved for the man, Irene Testa raised a case that had already been the subject of complaints to the Public Prosecutor's Office, letters to the then Italian Health Minister Roberto Speranza and questions in the 'Sardinian Regional Council'.
Irene Testa (pictured) from the statements made does not resign and does not accept that a sick person is subjected to treatment that appears closer to the concept of torture than to that of treatment. Therefore, rapid and concrete action by all institutional actors is needed to put an end to this situation.
'I will not give up hope,' assures the Garante, 'I cannot accept that a sick person should be subjected to treatment that appears closer to the concept of torture than to that of care. However, this is not the time for indignation but for concrete and rapid action by all the institutional bodies that can make a contribution to changing this situation.