Zaikiya Duncan.Photo: Ted Heap, Harris County Constable Precinct 5/Facebook
Content warning: This story contains disturbing allegations of child abuse.
Two twins escaped their Texas home on Tuesday after allegedly enduring horrific abuse before authorities arrested their mother and her boyfriend, who had gone to Louisiana.
The twins, who said they were kept naked, handcuffed and zip-tied in their home’s laundry room, were allegedly forced to urinate and defecate on themselves, drink household cleaners, and ingest dozens of Benadryl tablets at one point, according to the outlet.
Zaikiya Duncan and Jova Terrell.Ted Heap, Harris County Constable Precinct 5/Facebook
The teens were allegedly able to break free after the boy managed to get a hold of the keys to their handcuffs,ABC 13 reports.
The siblings then ran door-to-door to neighbors' homes, pleading for help, until an unidentified woman finally took them in.
“They said, ‘Can you help us, can you help us?'” the woman recalled to the station. “They were so skinny and so frail. They just looked like they had been through a lot.”
“The more I asked and realized how severe the situation was, it was just a flood of emotions that came over me,” she said. “How a mother could do this to her kids and… I feel like my tears are out of frustration, anger and sadness.”
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The outlet reports the woman called 911, but when deputies arrived at the twins’ home, Duncan, Terrell, and her five other children, ages 7 to 14, were already gone, triggering an AMBER alert.
Duncan and Terrell were arrested in Baton Rouge, La., later that day, according to Harris County authorities.
The pair, who were denied bond, face charges of injury to a child.
It was unclear if Duncan or Terrell retained attorneys or entered pleas to the charges.
They will be extradited from Baton Rouge to Texas in the coming days.
If you suspect child abuse, call the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-4-A-Child or 1-800-422-4453, or go to www.childhelp.org. All calls are toll-free and confidential. The hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages.
source: people.com
