Residents said Krui’s sister, whose house is 20 meters from the tent, supplies him with meals but locals say she hasn’t bathed him once over the last 10 years.

In the rainy season, Krui has difficulty sleeping, exposed to the wind and rain in his tent without walls.

Some residents said Krui, of the Ba Na ethnic minority, was once the most handsome man in the village and very gentle.

After marrying Dinh Thi Khep, he went to live with her family in a neighboring village, following the tradition of the Ba Na ethic minority.

The couple had three children but in 1997, they broke up and Krui became “unusual.” Residents said he often damaged farms and even burned down a house in the village.

To stop his unpredictable behavior, his sister Dinh Kring asked some men to capture him so that she could chain him to a tree.

One local, Tran Khanh Hung, who was once Krui’s farmhand, said his former employer always remembered him whenever he visited.

Talking to Thanh Nien, Krui could remember some events from the past but after a while he began to ramble and seemed confused.

Krui’s sister, who is in her 60s, told Thanh Nien she could not recall Krui’s story very well.

She said as her two other sisters had moved away, she was the only person left to care for him.

An official from Kong Long Khong Commune said because Krui’s family had not lodged a complaint over the past 10 years, the commune administration had not taken any action to release him.

Reported by Cao Nguyen