Illinois Man Charged in Torture, Imprisonment Case Allegedly Trapped Victim and 'Beat Her for Days'

A man in Bloomington, Ill., was taken into custody Friday and charged in connection with the torture and imprisonment of a woman who had an active domestic violence complaint against him.

First reported by The Pantagraph, Bloomington Police made the grim discovery after being called to the home where Meontay D. Wheeler allegedly trapped and repeatedly beat the woman, whose identity has not been provided to protect her privacy.

Wheeler was arrested by BPD officers at the scene and charged with aggravated battery inflicting great bodily harm and torture, aggravated domestic battery, and aggravated domestic battery involving strangulation. Public records list his arraignment date as Feb. 2 at 9 a.m. and two separate misdemeanor charges are pending for violating an order of protection.

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According to an arrest statement obtained by the Pantagraph and WJBC, police found the woman had been badly hurt, with cuts and bruises and "severe" burns on her chest and body. Her neck and wrist injuries were consistent with being restrained and strangled.

Large chunks of the victim's hair had also been ripped out, police said, per the outlets.

The statement said police had been told that Wheeler's behavior was increasingly violent in the months preceding the incident. During the time that Wheeler was imprisoning the victim, he withheld food from her and only allowed her to drink water twice, the Pantagraph reported.

Wheeler's bond has been set at $1 million, according to the report. The McLean County State Attorney's Office did not immediately respond to requests for comment by PEOPLE.