Couple comes forward, claims Mowgli girl is their 'missing' daughter
A couple from the Lakhimpur Kheri district has come forward to claim that Ehsaas, more popularly known as the 'Mowgli girl' is their missing daughter 'Lakshmi.' They submitted an application in the Singahi police station, asking the police to conduct their DNA test. The couple added that their daughter 'Lakshmi' went missing on 25th November, 2012. However, no missing complaint was lodged back then.
In January, villagers spotted a girl foraging with a troop of monkeys in UP's Katarniyaghat wildlife sanctuary. The girl walks on all fours and expresses herself by screeching just like the monkeys who raised her. She was "rescued" and taken to the civic hospital in Bahraich where she is lovingly called "girl Mowgli" just like the protagonist of Rudyard Kipling's 'The Jungle Book'.
The girl, possibly aged eight, was naked and had matted hair. Exposure to the elements caused her skin to get tanned and her nails were claw-like. She was brought to civilization after the villagers who spotted her, informed local police. Her "rescue" was difficult as the monkeys put up a stiff resistance. She was terrified of humans and yelled when approached by anyone
"She had wounds on her body. Our priority is to give her proper medical care and look for her parents," police said. "She was unable to communicate or understood any language. She has spent many years with animals and, so, behaved like them," a hospital official said. The girl slowly overcame her fears of humans after spending two months in the hospital.
Last year, a woman in England said she was raised by monkeys in South America's jungles after child traffickers ditched her. Oxana Malaya, a Ukrainian woman was rescued after being brought up by dogs in a kennel. She had been abandoned as a child by her alcoholic parents. Malaya was called a feral child because she behaved like dogs, including running on all fours.
The 'Mowgli' girl who was found in January was shifted to a home for the disabled in Lucknow. She was named "Ehsaas" and officials said that she would grow up normally with other children. Meanwhile, a man who claimed that she was his daughter was asked to go to Lucknow for document verification. He had filed a missing report in March 2016.
Suresh Singh Dhapola, the founder of Nirvan Hospital, a Lucknow based NGO run home for mentally challenged children where Ehsaas the "Mowgli-girl" is put up, stated that in just 2 months, she has started mimicking human social behaviour, indicative that she is not mentally challenged. However, experts say she may have sensory problems due to the lack of human-touch.
