A Cambodian girl who disappeared at the age of eight was found after living wild in the jungle for 19 years, according to police in Cambodia's Rattanakiri region. The girl is believed to be Rochom P'ngieng, who was thought to have been killed (along with her six-year-old sister) while tending buffalo nearly two decades ago on the edge of the jungle in the remote northern province.
Local policeman Sal Lou, who claims to be her father, says he has identified her through scars and is willing to have DNA tests taken to prove she is his daughter. After they found her, villagers clothed and fed her. But the woman, uncom-fortable in her new surroundings, rebuffed their advances, refusing to use chopsticks and fighting off anyone who approaches. “Unfortunately, she keeps crying and wants to go back to the jungle,” her father said. “She is not used to living with humans. We had to clothe her. When she is thirsty or hungry she points at her mouth.” Local villagers believe she is possessed by demons and have asked local Buddhist monks to bless her.
But skeptics say there are other possibilities to her identity. Members of Vietnamese hill tribes seeking asylum often cross into Cambodia through the jungles. Many refugees are seeking protection from religious persecution and are keen to avoid contact with the authorities. Local police said the woman was "half-human and half-animal" and could not speak any intelligible language.
Her plight came to light when a villager noticed some of his food had been taken and staked out the area, which is about 220 miles northeast of Phnom Penh. Deputy provincial police chief Chea Bunthoeun told the Associated Press that he "spotted a naked human being, who looked like a jungle person, sneaking in to steal his rice." The villager and some friends then caught the woman. Sal Lou said he recognized the woman as his daughter from a scar on her right arm. Accord-ing to Lou, "When I saw her, she was naked and walking in a bending-forward position like a monkey... She was bare bones. She was shaking and picking up grains of rice from the ground to eat."
Lou said the family began watching her closely after she took her clothes off and threatened to return to the jungle. But within 48 hours, further intriguing reports emerged of a mysterious naked man who had been spotted with the woman but ran off when challenged. As more press inquiries were made to the family, they closed ranks. They then withdrew permission to take DNA samples to confirm the woman's identity, and police have thrown a cordon around their isolated home, in an effort to keep curious neighbors and the world's media at bay.
The family of the woman, (who would be 27 if she is indeed their daughter) say they want to be left alone in order to make up for lost time. But Sal Lou's claims are so remarkable that there is little chance that they will be left in peace. Pen Bonnar, a widely respected human rights campaigner in Cambodia, is due to arrive in the Oyadao district where the family live to assess the disturbed woman's needs and try to unlock the many puzzles surrounding her story. The remoteness of the village, in the rugged mountain area close to the Vietnamese border, has made disentangling the woman's story all the more difficult.
There is still no clue to the fate of the second daughter, Chan Boeung, who was six when she disappeared on the same day. Their father said he had believed them both to have been devoured by wild animals in the forest and had long since given them up for dead. The woman's mother, Rochom Soy, 50, said she was just glad to see her long-lost daughter again. "She is really my daughter, I am very happy," she said, adding that the woman was showing signs of recognizing her and her husband.
She is able only to communicate in sign language-- patting her stomach when hungry-- and is apparently disturbed, screaming and shouting when her parents approach, which has led some to speculate that she is mentally ill. One theory among skeptics is that the marks on her wrist are the result of years of being bound, common practice among peasant villagers in dealing with mentally ill people. But with the woman now dressed in ordinary clothes, her hair cut to a neat shoulder length, the questions over her whereabouts for the last 19 years will only grow the longer she remains unable to tell her story.
Story/Photo: BBC News
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