Lucknow: The girl, rescued from troops of monkeys a couple of months ago in northern India, has been given a new name and a home.
After being called ‘Mowgli’, ‘Van Durga’ and ‘Puja,” the girl resembling the character in Rudyard Kipling’s’ novel, was named for the fourth time. At her new shelter home in Lucknow, she was named ‘Ehsaas’, on April 8.
“We do not know her religion. The name that we have given her is not specific to a particular religion and is sort of common to all,” said Suresh Dhapola, president of Nirvaan organization, which runs shelter home ‘Balloons,’ especially for mentally unstable destitute.
“The only problem with the girl, what we can make out from her behavior, is that she has not been civilized. She has not lived with humans and hence cannot communicate like we do. It’s difficult to say who she lived with and where,” Dhapola said.
On April 8, Minister of Women and Child Welfare Rita Bahuguna Joshi also visited the center to see the girl.
Besides, a doctor visited the shelter home to take blood samples of the girl. If she has been recovered from the jungle, there is a possibility she contracted rabies. She would be vaccinated after the tests are done.
At the district hospital, Bahraich, where she was undergoing treatment so far, has mentioned her age as 11. The girl would be made to learn through ‘habit formation,’ and the first thing she would be taught is to brush her teeth. She would be kept with other children, The Times of India reported.
At her new home, the girl seemed at ease. “We cannot say if she lived with monkeys or not but she was rescued from troops of monkeys. She had injuries on her body, had long hair, was without clothes and had overgrown nails,” said Pratima Singh, member of the District Child Protection Unit, Bahraich.
She, along with the member of the Childline and district hospital staff, had come to drop the girl at the shelter home.
The girl was recovered from Motipur range of Katarniaghat wildlife sanctuary in January. On January 25, she was admitted to the district hospital, Bahraich, for treatment on the directions of the magistrate of ‘baal suraksha grih’.
Although Singh had no picture of how the girl looked like at the time she was rescued, she had pictures to show how the girl used to hide underneath her bed on seeing humans during the early days of her stay at the hospital.
“She used to eat polythene. She even bit off the blanket given to her at the hospital and pick up things from garbage in the hospital compound and eat,” said hospital staff, Renu, who looked after the girl.
She did not know how to use toilet and if left alone, she used to slide her hand inside the commode. She could only mumble and not speak.
“We can not say whether she is mentally retarded or not as she is reacting to her surroundings,” said Dhapola.