By Bronwyn Sloan
DPA
For local authorities in a remote Rattanakiri province village, nearly 700 kilometres from the capital, there is no mystery surrounding a wild woman captured there nearly a week ago.
"She is the daughter of a local policeman. The spirits have released her from the jungle and she has come home," district police chief of O'Yadaw district, Mao Sun said by telephone Friday.
Naked, malnourished, still with the body of a child, unable to speak or use normal everyday tools like eating utensils, the woman, now 28, was nonetheless immediately identified as a little girl who went missing 18 years ago by that girl's father, Sam Thom village policeman Sao Loo, and her mother, Rocham Yit.
But since then, despite the parents' assurances, theories have abounded amongst locals. Some claim she is just a crazy woman. Others say she was kidnapped, others that she is a former prisoner of some kind, citing a thick scar around her wrist which appears to have been inflicted by being bound.
One story said she was with another wild man armed with a sword who escaped before he could be captured and that there may yet be more of these people in the thick jungle.
"None of this is true," said Sun. "Her family is too poor for someone to care to kidnap her. She was alone when the loggers found her. There is no doubt this is the little girl who disappeared herding cattle when she was 10. She is the image of her mother. There is no doubt."
Sun said the positive physical identification means the family will probably not allow blood to be taken to allow a DNA test for absolute confirmation. They are members of the Jarai ethnic minority, he said, and tradition makes them wary of such invasions.
The girl's rescue began on January 13, when she apparently tried to steal food from loggers and was trapped and brought to O'Yadaw village. She had apparently been surviving alone in dense tropical jungle for nearly two decades.
The local policeman and his wife, who had never given up hope of finding the girl, Rocham Phoeung, and her cousin, then-6-year-old Rocham Boeung, who went to find cattle with her, quickly identified Phoeung by her features and a distinctive scar on her back, Sun said.
"We have no idea how she survived with all the wild animals out there, and she cannot speak to tell us. We think the scar on her wrist came from being caught in an animal trap for a prolonged period of time. The locals believe the forest spirits captured her, but have released her now because they have finished with her," Sun said.
Although local newspaper The Cambodia Daily reported some local police wanted to put the girl in a cage and charge a fee for viewing her, Sun says her family love her and that will not happen.
Without the power of speech, still terrified of humans and apparently incapable of understanding what had happened to her, Sun said there was little chance she would ever be able to tell her story, nor give details of what befell little Boeung, whose body was also never found.
But family, he says, are just happy to have her back with them and do not need answers, just their daughter. They want to deflect the storm of publicity that her rescue has brought to the remote village as much as possible and get on with the task of rehabilitating her so she can take some place back in her own society.
"She has come home, and the family will take care of her now," he said. "They have missed her very much and never gave up hope the jungle would return her to them. This is a very happy story."
"She is the daughter of a local policeman. The spirits have released her from the jungle and she has come home," district police chief of O'Yadaw district, Mao Sun said by telephone Friday.
Naked, malnourished, still with the body of a child, unable to speak or use normal everyday tools like eating utensils, the woman, now 28, was nonetheless immediately identified as a little girl who went missing 18 years ago by that girl's father, Sam Thom village policeman Sao Loo, and her mother, Rocham Yit.
But since then, despite the parents' assurances, theories have abounded amongst locals. Some claim she is just a crazy woman. Others say she was kidnapped, others that she is a former prisoner of some kind, citing a thick scar around her wrist which appears to have been inflicted by being bound.
One story said she was with another wild man armed with a sword who escaped before he could be captured and that there may yet be more of these people in the thick jungle.
"None of this is true," said Sun. "Her family is too poor for someone to care to kidnap her. She was alone when the loggers found her. There is no doubt this is the little girl who disappeared herding cattle when she was 10. She is the image of her mother. There is no doubt."
Sun said the positive physical identification means the family will probably not allow blood to be taken to allow a DNA test for absolute confirmation. They are members of the Jarai ethnic minority, he said, and tradition makes them wary of such invasions.
The girl's rescue began on January 13, when she apparently tried to steal food from loggers and was trapped and brought to O'Yadaw village. She had apparently been surviving alone in dense tropical jungle for nearly two decades.
The local policeman and his wife, who had never given up hope of finding the girl, Rocham Phoeung, and her cousin, then-6-year-old Rocham Boeung, who went to find cattle with her, quickly identified Phoeung by her features and a distinctive scar on her back, Sun said.
"We have no idea how she survived with all the wild animals out there, and she cannot speak to tell us. We think the scar on her wrist came from being caught in an animal trap for a prolonged period of time. The locals believe the forest spirits captured her, but have released her now because they have finished with her," Sun said.
Although local newspaper The Cambodia Daily reported some local police wanted to put the girl in a cage and charge a fee for viewing her, Sun says her family love her and that will not happen.
Without the power of speech, still terrified of humans and apparently incapable of understanding what had happened to her, Sun said there was little chance she would ever be able to tell her story, nor give details of what befell little Boeung, whose body was also never found.
But family, he says, are just happy to have her back with them and do not need answers, just their daughter. They want to deflect the storm of publicity that her rescue has brought to the remote village as much as possible and get on with the task of rehabilitating her so she can take some place back in her own society.
"She has come home, and the family will take care of her now," he said. "They have missed her very much and never gave up hope the jungle would return her to them. This is a very happy story."
1 comment:
I'm glad this saga turned out to be happy ending. Best wish and hope she is in good care of her family, safe and sound.
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