Indian mother held captive and beaten by husband and parents in Florida for being 'disobedient'

A mother-of-one was rescued in Florida this weekend from a house where she had been held captive for months by her husband and his parents.

Silky Gaind, 33, was held at her home against her will and allegedly beaten and threatened with a knife by her husband Devbir Kalsi, according to the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office.

Kalsi, also 33, is said to have flown his parents, Jasbir and Bhupinder Kalsi, over from the Punjab in India to "counsel and discipline" his wife for "being disobedient", according to police.

The couple have a one-year-old child together who was in the house during the period of the abuse.

Gaind reportedly manged to call her parents in India and told them about her captivity. They alerted authorities who went to the house in Riverview, Florida on Saturday (2 September).

When they arrived, Gaind reportedly attempted to open the door and shouted for the police to save her and the baby. The deputy sheriff said he had to force his way into the house as Kalsi tried to block entry to the family home.

Police found the woman badly beaten, with bruises over her entire body. The child appeared to be unharmed, investigators told local media.

Gaind told police that her husband had held a knife to her throat and taken away her phone so that she couldn't call 911.

"It really is heartbreaking, there's a brand new baby, but who beats their wife up and has his mother and dad help him? Who does that?" a neighbour, who wished to remain anonymous, told ABC News.

"I'm upset that this was all going on right across the street from me and I never knew and couldn't do anything about it and couldn't help her," neighbour Sarah Payne said. "It really breaks my heart to know that a woman and her one-year-old were being treated so poorly and were so scared."

Kalsi has been charged with false imprisonment, felony battery, child abuse and denying access to emergency services. His 67-year-old father was charged with aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, false imprisonment and child abuse, while his mother, 61, faces charges of battery domestic violence and failure to report child abuse.