This young girl about 10 years old aroused the curiosity of India and the world. The girl, whose identity is unknown, was found in January in the Katarniya Ghat forest range in northern India, and it is not clear how long she was there.
Reports say the girl was spotted by the police. She couldn’t speak a human language and was probably raised by the monkeys, the Times of India reported. The police said that they heard about her from woodchoppers that reported her existence to the police who immediately came to rescue her.
“The woodchoppers told us that the girl was naked and felt comfortable with the monkeys, but when they tried to save the child, the monkeys chased them away; that’s why the police intervened. A policeman called out to the girl and was attacked by monkeys who screamed at him, but he managed to rescue her and escape in a police car, with the monkeys chasing them. “
The girl was taken to the hospital in the town of Bahraich, Uttar Pradesh in northern India. She received extensive medical treatment. The head of the hospital medical staff said that at first the girl behaved like an animal; she did not speak, walked on all fours and ate from the floor. She was also afraid of people. But now, after long treatment, she can walk on her feet, react her surroundings and even smile. In the meantime, she still doesn’t speak, but manages to respond to what is said to her.
Police are trying to determine the girl’s identity, who her parents are and how she got to the forest.
Updated information on the story says that it is most likely that the girl was recently abandoned by her parents. Indian society doesn't place high value on female children plus the girl seems to be not mentally sound. These 2 factors contribute to the idea that her parents abandoned her in the forest.
JP Singh is the Distric Chief Forestry Officer and he claims the story about being raised with the monkeys is an exaggeration. “She may have been in their vicinity but “his rangers never found her living with the monkeys… If she did it would only be for a short time… the forest is covered by closed circuit TV so it would be unlikely that she lived in the forset along time without being spotted.”