Blog “Jungle girl” close to top in search buzz
January 28th, 2007The story about Cambodia’s mysterious “jungle girl” captivates the world. Now she has become one of the most popular search girls.
“Girls rule”, writes Yahoo! Buzz Log. And number seven among the girls creating search buzz, a couple of spots behind “Barbie girl”, is the “jungle girl”.
Numerous blogs have also written about the “Jungle girl”, like Cambodian Vannara.
She was found naked and desperately looking for food outside a village in a remote part of Cambodia. Witnesses claimed she behaved almost like an animal. Then a local family stepped forward and claimed she was their long-lost daughter, who disappeared mysteriousle 19 years ago. She was then 8 years old.
Since then journalists and other onlookers have invaded the village, all fighting to get a glimpse of the “jungle girl”.
But is she really the lost daughter coming home? Or is there another story to be told?
Jonathan Watts in the Guardian is one of the witnesses who is expressing some doubt.
He writes:
“The irony is that this tale of a child growing up in the wild, far from civilisation, may prove to be quite the opposite: the story of a girl brought up in captivity, who somehow escaped, and then found her way to a father who desperately wanted to recover something he had loved and lost.”
He adds:
“She strikes me as someone who is far away, and who could possibly be traumatised, in a state of shock.”
Watts’ article is one of the best that has been written about the girl. He describes the frenzy around her, including how the family has started to charge visitors money to look at the girl.
It is impossible to avoid asking:
Whatever the real truth, what will all this attention do to the girl? Will it break whatever mental health she has left?
