‘Mowgli girl’ shifted to Lucknow shelter home
Tribune News Service
Lucknow, April 8
The “Mowgli girl”, who was apparently brought up by monkeys in the Kataraniaghat forests and rescued by a “Dial 100” team, has been shifted to a shelter home for mentally ill in Lucknow.
The 10-year-old girl was today brought to her new home — Nirvaah — after the Child Welfare Committee approved sending the girl to the shelter home.
She was given a tearful farewell by the staff at the Bahraich district hospital where she has been undergoing treatment for two months.
On Friday, Bahraich district officials named her “Van Durga”. But within hours her name was changed as several hospital staff and visitors attempted to worship her, causing her to screech in fright. Finally, she was named Puja in a juvenile court where she was produced before shifting her to Lucknow.
A team of psychologists led by Dr PK Dalal, head of the psychiatry department at King George’s Medical University, visited the Bahraich district hospital to examine the girl. When asked if the girl is deaf and dumb, Dr Dalal said, “It might appear but we have seen her mumble for water in the hospital.” He said she was perhaps not aware of a human vocabulary therefore, she was unable to speak.
He said the girl had to be protected from unknown persons and visitors for the next few months till she got accustomed to human presence and slowly began to react normally. “Only the shelter home staff and doctors are allowed to meet her,” he said.
Hospital CMS Dr DK Singh said they had locked the channel-gate to keep the unwanted crowd outside.
