Psychologist evaluates Cambodian 'jungle woman'

A Spanish psychologist met Cambodia’s “jungle woman”, hoping to unravel some of the mystery surrounding the woman who emerged from the forest, naked and unable to speak, after what may have been nearly two decades in the wild.

Hector Rifa, a doctor of psychology from Spain’s University of Oviedo, said his priority was to ensure the woman was receiving proper treatment for whatever traumatic experience she had undergone.

It is also possible he may find clues to the woman’s true identity, whether she is indeed a local girl who disappeared in 1988, as claimed by the family in north-eastern Cambodia who have taken her in as their long-lost daughter.

Rifa plans to spend several days at the home of village policeman Sal Lou, who claims the woman is his daughter, Rochom P’ngieng, who disappeared while tending water buffalo when she was eight.

“I can only tell you that I am (now) taking dinner with them, a nice family,” he said by phone from the Oyadao district of Rattanakiri province, stressing that he was there “to make an evaluation” of the woman.

Sal Lou’s family, members of Cambodia’s Pnong ethnic minority, say they are certain the woman is Rochom P’ngieng because of a childhood scar on her right arm.

With no other evidence supporting their claim, however, others have speculated that the woman may have a history of mental troubles and have simply become lost in the jungle much more recently.

In any case, her inability to communicate and evident attempts to escape from Sal Lou’s family indicate she is in a difficult psychological situation.

Rifa has been working with indigenous people in Rattanakiri province over the past four years for Spain-based group Psychology Without Borders.

He thinks the woman’s behaviour shows she is having difficulty adapting to normal life, as would be expected if she had been lost in the jungle for an extended period of time.

Anyone returning from almost two decades away from normal society would certainly need time to readjust, he said.