A mask to cover his face and tied hands have been the only treatment that for 16 years has received a 50-year-old psychiatric patient admitted to a center on the Italian island of Sardinia, according to the new guarantor for people deprived of liberty in that region, Irene Testa.

"I can't accept ... a treatment that seems closer to the concept of torture than to that of assistance," Testa said when publicly revealing the situation of Bruno, who suffers from pica, an eating disorder that leads him to eat non-nutritive substances, such as dirt, chalk, cotton, glue or ash, as well as small objects.

The guarantor visited him a few days ago at the Aias center in Cortoghiana, where he has been hospitalized for 24 years, after receiving a complaint about his treatment, which includes an iron mask reminiscent of the one worn by Hannibal Lecter, the serial killer protagonist of the film 'The silence of the lambs'.

He then posted several photos on his social media. "I waited a day before putting in writing what I saw at the Aias facility in Cordoghiana. A day to recover from the chilling and grisly scenario I encountered," Testa said, insisting that Bruno "is not a criminal but a sick man. You have to change your treatment plan immediately."

"For more than 16 years, they keep him tied all day with his hands, with a helmet on his head. Apparently, not because it is dangerous for others, but for oneself, "he added, since this disorder can cause complications to those who suffer from it, such as obstruction of the digestive tract, poisoning or parasitic infection.

Bruno's case had already been denounced some time ago by the president of the National Union of Associations for Mental Health, Gisella Trincas, and the Prosecutor's Office, former Health Minister Roberto Speranza and the Sardinia Regional Council were also notified, according to Testa. "I do not resign myself, I cannot accept that a patient is subjected to a treatment that seems closer to the concept of torture than to that of assistance," said the Guarantor on Friday, who insisted that she was not referring to the entire center, but to a specific case within it.

"But this is not the time for indignation, but for concrete and rapid action by all institutional actors who can contribute to changing this situation. It's a kind of call: we have to do it for Bruno and for all the other Brunos," he concluded.

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