Raised by monkeys, ‘Mowgli girl’ rescued

BAHRAICH: In what may be termed as Rudyard Kipling’s ‘The Jungle Book’ redux, the police have found an eight-year-old ‘Mowgli girl’ who had been living with a troop of monkeys in the Katarniyaghat Wildlife Sanctuary.

After being spotted by the locals in Motipur range of the sanctuary, a police team managed to rescue the girl in January but not before overcoming the resistance by the monkeys.

Sources said at the time of her rescue, the girl was wearing nothing and behaved like monkeys. Unable to speak and understand any language, the girl screams when anyone tries to approach her.

The police team took the girl with them and informed sub-inspector, Mihinpurwa, Suresh Yadav, about the incident.

She was admitted to the community health centre at Mihinpurwa from where she was shifted to the district hospital in Bahraich.

Talking to HT, chief medical superintendent Dr DK Singh said the girl was about 10-12 years’ old and was admitted on January 25.

“The girl had injury marks on her body when she was brought to the hospital. She was unable to communicate or understand any language. It seems she has spent many years with animals and that is why behaves like them,” Dr Singh said.

He said after undergoing treatment for two months, the condition of the girl had improved. “Now, she understands signals and is able to identify the ward boy, nurse and other medical staff. It seems the girl had been abandoned in the forest at an early age,” he said.

He had written to the child helpline but the authorities refused to look after the girl. “She is now physically fit and needs to be taken to an institution where can learn human behaviour and language,” he said.