South African police are investigating an Austrian man who apparently kept his eight-year-old boy captive for half his life in a Johannesburg home.
The boy had been locked in a bizarre make-believe world of paranoia and warship attacks and denied any contact with the outside world, police said on Wednesday.
His plight only came to light after his 68-year-old captor, believed to be his father, collapsed on November 12, sending paramedics bursting into the property in a Johannesburg suburb.
Even then, it took neighbours five days to discover the boy, who has been dubbed "Tarzan of suburbia" because of his wild appearance.
The boy was admitted to hospital wearing shredded tracksuit pants and a T-shirt with holes, with scratches on his ankles and legs.
"He had a nervous look, like he was unsecure about being out, his head and body were always turning, looking, his hands moved all the time," the neighbour who found him told The Star newspaper.
The neighbour, who has not been identified, said the boy kept yelling: "I hate the old man! I hate the old man."
According to the newspaper, the boy's only source of entertainment was a TV which only played security camera footage and World War II videos. The boy could recite the names of the ships involved in the Pearl Harbour bombing.
He is currently undergoing psychiatric treatment at a hospital.
"When he arrived he was aggressive, wild and sometimes withdrawn," said Khosi Msibi, head of Johannesburg Child Welfare.
"After more than a week in hospital the boy is responding well to treatment and being in contact with people," Msibi told AFP.
Msibi said he did not show any visible signs of physical abuse.
Social services said it was not clear if the child's mother was still alive and why his father kept him in captivity.
Johannesburg police spokesman Sanku Tsunke said his captor had not yet been charged.
