Couple says girl ‘raised by monkeys’ is their daughter
A family in India claims that the girl who initially was believed to have been raised by monkeys is their daughter — and has been missing for more than a year, according to a report.
Ramzan Ali Shah, 45, and his wife, Nazma, 35, said the “Mowgli girl” who was found with three monkeys had gone missing during a shopping trip on March 28, 2016, the Daily Mail reported
Indian authorities have said the girl — who was discovered in the Katarniya Ghat forest range in the state of Uttar Pradesh — had been abandoned by her family because she is mentally and physically disabled.
“She’s my daughter,” Ramzan said, adding that she is 10 years old, not 8, as has been reported. “She went missing last year, and we did everything to find her. We reported it to the police, and we distributed posters, but no one helped us. We thought she was dead.”
The couple from Jaunpur visited the girl — named Aliza — in a children’s facility Monday after they spotted an article with her photo in their local newspaper, the Daily Mail reported.
But now they need a DNA test to prove the family connection.
“She’s not mentally stable,” the man added. “We got busy buying some medicines for a few seconds, and she suddenly vanished. We looked for her everywhere but couldn’t find her.”
The family reported her missing to Mungra Badshahpur police, but the dad of seven claimed the cops refused to help.
“No police official helped us and even demanded money in exchange for help every time we visited. We pasted posters in different areas but nothing found her,” he said.
“We abandoned all hope. We eventually believed she was dead or picked up by someone, or traffickers. We were devastated. My wife did not eat or sleep for several weeks, but eventually we had to carry on with our lives,” he added.
Ramzan said he was amazed the girl survived in a forest for so long.
“When I saw her, I had tears in my eyes. She kept staring at me. She stared for two hours,” he said. “But this is how she was. It was a normal reaction for her.”
The girl is being treated at Nirvan, a charity hospital and school for mentally disabled children, in northern India.
Nirvan founder Dr. Suresh Singh Dhapola said the girl has shown signs of improvement but does not communicate.
“The initial two days were difficult, and she drank and ate on the floor, but she’s improving. Unfortunately, she was not given proper care earlier,” he said.
“Her tests show she has very low hemoglobin, low blood pressure, and she’s suffering with a fever,” he added. “She even has worms in her stomach, and she’s currently on antibiotics for them.”
Dhapola confirmed that a relative visited the girl.
“Someone in her family came here claiming she was their daughter, but since it is an official matter, we need to confirm her identity before we hand her over to them,” he said.
Ramzan told the paper that the family is saving money to pay for a DNA test.
“It would be the most amazing day to get her back. I have no idea how she made it to the jungle. I wonder what she’s been through,” he said. “She used to always climb trees and buildings and jump off, but how did she cope in the forest for so long?”