ra’s blog

Ro Cham H’pnhieng, believed to spend 19 years in the wild, has attempted to communicate with the people around her, reported news online.

However, she did not make a sound recognized by anyone even those in the family, with which she is staying, news online reported the doctor as saying.

The report followed a Spanish psychologist’s observation during his 24-hour stay with the family who claimed she was one of the two missing daughters in 1998, according to the Spanish News in its January 25 article.

“ Hector Rifa of Psychologists without Borders and University of Oviedo (Spanish News), said the woman “ made some words” and smiled in response to a game involving toy animals and a mirror,” BBC wrote January 24.

Rifa is now staying in Phnom Penh, the Capital City of Cambodia, and plans on returning to Ratanakiri, where the story took place, today in order to have another session with the girl, according to the Spanish News.

The psychologist told AFP news agency, “ This is not something magical… I think many of the people who come here will be disappointed – she is a normal woman, a little shy,” BBC wrote.

Whether or not the girl came back home to humans from the wild is still a doubt; some argued that it may be possible that she is just mentally ill and escaped to find a new place for herself.

However, that she is a feral girl seems a little more obvious now. “ She is not mentally ill,” Bangkok Post quoted Rifa as saying. The psychologist told BBC, “ She is a normal woman, a little shy,” adding, “ She needs assimilation – she needs to see objects and to hear sounds.”

DNA test?

Sa Lou, a village policeman who claimed to be her father and took her to live with the family, was willing to take DNA test any time, the news online reported, but failed to say when the test would take place although Guardian Unlimited reported on January 23 that the test would take place then.

Sources:

(2007, January 24). ‘Jungle girl’ attempts to speak. Retrieved January 30, 2007 from BBC News website.

(2007, January 25). Psychologist says ‘jungle girl’ responds to others. Retrieved January 30, 2007 from Expatica.Com.

(2007, January). Cambodian jungle still an enigma. Retrieved January 30, 2007 from Bangkok Post’s Breaking News webpage.

Related stories:

Munthit, K. (2007, January 28). Psychologist evaluating ‘jungle woman’. The Associated Press. Retrieved January 30, 2007 from IndyStar.Com.