Psychologist seeks to examine 'jungle woman' in Cambodia

Jan. 23,2007

A SPANISH psychologist traveled to see Cambodia's "jungle woman" yesterday to evaluate her condition since she was recently discovered naked and unable to speak after apparently spending nearly two decades alone in the wild. Hector Rifa, a doctor of psychology from Spain's University of Oviedo, said he wanted mainly to make sure the woman was treated properly for what appears to have been a traumatic experience. But it is also possible he may find clues to the woman's true identity - whether she is indeed a local girl who went missing in 1988, as claimed by a family in northeastern Cambodia who has taken her in as their long lost daughter.

Rifa was driving 13 hours yesterday from Cambodia's capital Phnom Penh to meet with the woman in Rattanakiri province's Oyadao district. The family of a village policeman there, Sal Lou, says they are certain the woman is Rochom P'ngieng because of a scar they can recognize on her right arm. The girl disappeared while tending water buffalo when she was eight years old.

With no other evidence supporting the claim, however, her actual identity is a mystery to other people, who speculate that she may just be a troubled person who became lost much more recently in the jungle. In any case, her inability to communicate and evident attempts to escape from the family that has given her shelter indicate she is in a difficult psychological situation."We need to make an evaluation of the situation because until now nobody was taking care" of her, said Rifa, who has been working in Cambodia on health promotion for indigenous people in the province over the past four years for the Spain-based group Psychology Without Borders.

He said he thinks the woman's case may not be anything more extraordinary than that of any other person having difficulty adapting to normal life after being lost in the jungle for an extended period."It is not extraordinary ... or anything coming from another world," he said.

Many villagers believed she may be possessed by a jungle spirit. On Monday, two Cambodian human rights groups expressed fear the woman may be suffering from the spotlight cast on her since she emerged from the wild, and offered to provide any necessary medical and psychiatric treatment.