ra’s blog

The return of a jungle girl whose name was claimed to be Ro Cham H’pnhieng, on January 13 in Rattanakiri of Cambodia has hit the world media’s headlines over the weekend. BBC News, CNN, The Times, Reuters and Guardian covered the story of her discovery. A Japanese TV also reported the news Saturday night.

Villagers hunt mystery wild man spotted with ‘jungle woman’, published by The Times, was the top Fox News’ Top News Story on Sunday. Cambodian “jungle girl” struggles to adapt, by Reuters, has become one of the most viewed Yahoo! News feeds.

The jungle girl was captured attempting to steal food from a villager 19 years (reported to be 18 years by The Times) after she disappeared into the jungle while her father was herding buffaloes in a remote area, according to all the online news articles.

She was not like an ordinary human at the time she was caught by villagers. She could not speak human language. When she was hungry, she would pat her stomach as a signal, reported CNN.

Sa Lou, a village policeman who recognized her as her daughter, said, “When I saw her, she was naked and walking in a bending-forward position like a monkey… She was bare bones,” according to BBC. “She was shaking and picking up grains of rice from the ground to eat.”

“The young woman was said to be becoming more responsive to her family yesterday, with whom she is now living, although she has made at least one attempt to escape back to the jungle,” reported The Times. “This is my daughter, I am sure of it,” Ro Cham Soy, Mr Sa’s wife, said.

The Times reported January 20 that she may have been held captive by a “long-hared wild man” who the villagers claimed was seen together on the scene. But the man managed to make his way back to the jungle following confrontation with the villagers.

The Times quoted Ro Cham Chanthy, the younger sister of the two girls, as telling the English-language The Cambodia Daily that villagers were afraid of the “wild man”. She said: “He had a long sword and villagers could not capture him. He had tattoos and made his eyes very wide, so the villagers were very afraid.”

Villagers are starting to hunt down the mystery man in a hope to find to find Ro Cham H’pnhieng’s younger sister who vanished together, reported The Times, concluding that Adhoc, an NGO based in the province, has promised to get psychological help for the woman.

The jungle girl’s story remains a mystery. No one knows exactly had happened to her during her 19-year disappearance. It cannot be sure either whether or not she will become adapted to her new life.

ources:

• Associated Press, (2007, January 20). ‘Jungle Woman’ yields no clues to past. Retrieved January 21, 2007.
  
• BBC News, (2007, January 19). Wild Cambodia Jungle Girl Found. Retrieved January 20, 2007.
• CNN, (2007, January 19). Wild jungle girl found in Cambodia. Retrieved January 20, 2007.
• FeralChildren.Com. Cambodian jungle girl: Lost in the Cambodian jungle for [nineteen years]. Retrieved January 19, 2007.
• Guardian, (2007, January 18). Cambodian woman may be girl who vanish. Retrieved January 20, 2007.
• Reuters, (2007, January 19). Cambodian “jungle girl” struggles to adapt. Retrieved January 21, 2007.
• The Times, (2007, January 20). Villagers hunt the mystery who seized jungle girl. Retrieved January 21, 2007.
• Wikinews, (2007, January 21). Cambodian woman found after 19 years of jungle life. Retrieved January 21, 2007.