Wild "Jungle Girl" Found in Cambodia

A Cambodian girl who disappeared while tending buffalo when she was eight years old has apparently been found after living in the wild for 19 years. A man identified himself as her father after recognizing a scar on her right arm, and plans to have DNA tests done to prove his paternity.

However, it is possible that this woman could instead be lost from one of the Vietnamese tribes that often cross through the jungles into this same region of Cambodia to avoid religious persecution.

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 350km (220 miles) north-east of Phnom Penh.

Deputy provincial police chief Chea Bunthoeun told Associated Press news agency: "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.

I hope they can teach this woman to speak some language because I am certain that she has an interesting story to tell.

Cited story.

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She have learned a languague one, so I'll maybe easier than if she'd nerver learned anyone !

This seems sensible. I have read that, in the rare documented cases of humans who have not been brought up with any language (see the wikipedia article on Genie), they can successfully learn vocabulary but are unable to grasp proper grammar if they have passed a certain cut-off age.

If this girl had learnt fundamental grammatical rules before she disappeared I hope she will be able to regain the ability to communicate.

They need to coax Tarzan out of retirement and use him as a translator... I heard that Jane turned him into such a wuss though...

I have been reading stories and reports on a regular basis. As a student of Society and Culture It has been a matter of great curiosity to me! Rather, I have been very excitingly interested to observe the day-to-day developments of this poor homosepien. So far as my knowledge goes, I believe that she can be treated as a subject of research that seek to know how much of social environment does determine the human psyche and human perceptibility. Our findings based on a serious research to be conducted in this regard may lead us, in fine, to believe that Human Beings are the creation of the Socio-cultural environment they live in. The whole gamut of the personality structure of a human being is shaped by the social conditions. This woman can help us dig into the inner essence of the human soul. I wish I could be a part of such research. What we need to see now is 01. Whether or to what extent she can adapt. 02. How much of the attitudinal make up does she still possess that she had learnt 18 years back. 03. What is her mental age at the moment. 04. How far is it possible for her to groom up as a social being. In a word hundreds of Anthropological questions may find some newer answers to satisfy the Socio-psychological researchers. But wharever we do, that must not deny her 'HUMAN RIGHTs' that she deserves as a Biological homosepien. She reserves the rights to all supportive human efforts that the CIVILIZATION can afford to provide. May God bless her with a normal human mind heart.

By Md. Zahurul Alam (not verified) on 22 Jan 2007 #permalink