Seth Meixner
AFP
In the quiet of night, after the crowds and television cameras have gone, a young woman who emerged naked and frightened from the Cambodian jungle has begun to smile and try to speak after what some think were nearly two decades away from civilisation.
"We did some tests and she showed some response, she made some words - even to me and I am not part of the family," said Hector Rifa, a Spanish psychologist who late on Tuesday met the woman, thought to be 27-year-old Rochom P'ngieng who disappeared in 1989.
"This is only small, small, small, but it means that she can do it," he told AFP on Wednesday by phone from Oyadao village, an isolated hamlet in northeast Cambodia were the woman has come under the care of a family claiming her as their lost daughter.
Language unknown
While she has begun to open up, the woman still does not speak in any language that is know to her family, members of the Phnong hill tribe, or anyone else, Rifa said.
"She verbalises some, but the sounds, even the family does not understand," he said.
Rifa, of the Spanish group Psychologists Without Borders, is the first medical professional to visit the woman since she was brought from the jungle, naked and dirty, nearly two weeks ago after being caught trying to steal food from a farmer.
At the time she was hunched over like a monkey, scavenging the ground for pieces of dried rice in the forests of Ratanakkiri province, some 600 kilometres northeast of the capital Phnom Penh.
The woman immediately became a sensation, drawing crowds of villagers and foreign journalists who spent days watching her sit listlessly inside a shack.
Unlocking the mystery
Many hope his visit will unlock some of the mystery that surrounds this woman, but Rifa refused to speculate.
"There is nothing to indicate where she has been. Some people say some things, but who saw this girl?" he said.
"To me it doesn't matter if she came from the farm or the forest or if she was naked or not, because we have one situation with one person who needs to adapt to the environment that she is in now," he added.
Sal Lou, who claims to be the woman's father, told AFP that Rifa played games with the woman using toy animals and a mirror, saying "They smiled at each other."
"She is like a child ... I am very happy. She seems not to fear anymore, but the only thing is that every night she sleeps only a short time," Sal Lou said, adding that the woman had gone to a neighbour's house to watch television with his wife.
Mentally ill?
With nothing to prove Sal Lou's claims, others have speculated that the woman is mentally ill and may have only recently become lost in the jungle. Thick scars on her left wrist suggest that she might have been bound for long periods of time.
Rifa said he did not know whether she was mentally disturbed or disabled.
"There are tests, but they are not easy to apply. Mentally, it is to early to tell," he said.
"She has abnormal abilities and she's in a state of stress or shock because of her situation. You can imagine if some of us were suddenly in the middle of the jungle. We would feel the same," he said.
"But this does not mean this or that - we need to check whether, after some weeks with this family, if she behaves the same."
Rifa, who has worked for several years with Cambodia's ethnic minorities in the northeast, said he plans to spend several days with the family watching how the woman interacts.
"There are some situations where she reacts and she is doing more communication with her environment, including the people, and this is normal. But she needs assimilation - she needs to see objects and to hear sounds," he said.
"We need to clarify that she's a very, very normal person," he added.
"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."
"We did some tests and she showed some response, she made some words - even to me and I am not part of the family," said Hector Rifa, a Spanish psychologist who late on Tuesday met the woman, thought to be 27-year-old Rochom P'ngieng who disappeared in 1989.
"This is only small, small, small, but it means that she can do it," he told AFP on Wednesday by phone from Oyadao village, an isolated hamlet in northeast Cambodia were the woman has come under the care of a family claiming her as their lost daughter.
Language unknown
While she has begun to open up, the woman still does not speak in any language that is know to her family, members of the Phnong hill tribe, or anyone else, Rifa said.
"She verbalises some, but the sounds, even the family does not understand," he said.
Rifa, of the Spanish group Psychologists Without Borders, is the first medical professional to visit the woman since she was brought from the jungle, naked and dirty, nearly two weeks ago after being caught trying to steal food from a farmer.
At the time she was hunched over like a monkey, scavenging the ground for pieces of dried rice in the forests of Ratanakkiri province, some 600 kilometres northeast of the capital Phnom Penh.
The woman immediately became a sensation, drawing crowds of villagers and foreign journalists who spent days watching her sit listlessly inside a shack.
Unlocking the mystery
Many hope his visit will unlock some of the mystery that surrounds this woman, but Rifa refused to speculate.
"There is nothing to indicate where she has been. Some people say some things, but who saw this girl?" he said.
"To me it doesn't matter if she came from the farm or the forest or if she was naked or not, because we have one situation with one person who needs to adapt to the environment that she is in now," he added.
Sal Lou, who claims to be the woman's father, told AFP that Rifa played games with the woman using toy animals and a mirror, saying "They smiled at each other."
"She is like a child ... I am very happy. She seems not to fear anymore, but the only thing is that every night she sleeps only a short time," Sal Lou said, adding that the woman had gone to a neighbour's house to watch television with his wife.
Mentally ill?
With nothing to prove Sal Lou's claims, others have speculated that the woman is mentally ill and may have only recently become lost in the jungle. Thick scars on her left wrist suggest that she might have been bound for long periods of time.
Rifa said he did not know whether she was mentally disturbed or disabled.
"There are tests, but they are not easy to apply. Mentally, it is to early to tell," he said.
"She has abnormal abilities and she's in a state of stress or shock because of her situation. You can imagine if some of us were suddenly in the middle of the jungle. We would feel the same," he said.
"But this does not mean this or that - we need to check whether, after some weeks with this family, if she behaves the same."
Rifa, who has worked for several years with Cambodia's ethnic minorities in the northeast, said he plans to spend several days with the family watching how the woman interacts.
"There are some situations where she reacts and she is doing more communication with her environment, including the people, and this is normal. But she needs assimilation - she needs to see objects and to hear sounds," he said.
"We need to clarify that she's a very, very normal person," he added.
"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."
3 comments:
She will talk when her cerebral cortex and her triggerring chemical both end synapses are released endorphine like to ease out stress and traumatic episode in her life. At this moment, her brain cells are being controlld and so many years by epinephrine and dopamine, the substances that can block the momery but to keep her fight. Milieu/positve integrating environmental therapy is the best court of action at this time. Administer low dose of antianxiety and anti-insomnia would be an option.
I don't know shit medical terminology craps...All I know this girls has Jungle Fever holmes!!
Well you both are wrong. In fact NO BODY KNOWS what went wrong with the woman. I have not seen the DNA test anything. Everyone keeps guessing.
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