Feb. 2, 2007
WORLD & NATION
Pages
www.gui1fordian.coTn
Greensboro. N.C.
Cambodian feral woman’s past shrouded in skepticism
Jewel Anderson | Staff Writer
On Jan. 13, Cambodian log
gers were shocked to find a naked,
crouched and shaking woman in
the jungle. She does not speak any
recognizable language, and her
identity remains a mystery.
Although DNA tests have yet
to be done, village police officer
Sal Lou has claimed the woman as
his daughter, Rochom P'ngieng,
who went missing 19 years ago at
the age of eight. Lou recognized
her, in part, due to a scar on her
left wrist.
Last seen, P'ngieng was tending
buffalo on the edge of the jungle
in the remote northern Rattanakiri
province.
Lou and his family have taken
the woman in absolutely con
vinced that she is their long-lost
child. Lou recognized the woman
as his daughter because of a scar
on her wrist that he says was
caused by an accident with a knife
when she was a child.
"I recognize her face," said
Rochom Soy, the alleged mother,
to The Guardian. "Now that she
is back home I sleep better and I boimd. a child and relived 'The Jungle
have regained my appetite." First-year Mo Crumbly has her Book' story, it is a possibility that
Daily, crowds of curious villag- doubts about feral-child claims, this is a feral-child case,
ers and journalists flock around Crumbly thinks that the most Feral children are youth who
the alleged family's hut to observe likely case is that the woman has grow up in isolation from human
the woman. However, with
out any objective proof of the
woman's identity, many remain
skeptical about who she is and
what she has been through.
Some believe that she sur
vived for 19 years alone in
the jungle. Others believe that
she suffers from some form of
mental illness and simply be
came lost in the jungle much
more recently. Some villagers
think that she is an evil jungle
spirit.
Kek Galabru, president of
a non-govemmental human
rights group, said to The Wash
ington Post, "We believe that
this woman is the victim of some
kind of torture, maybe sexual or
physical."
The scar that Lou used to iden-
bbc.co.uk
The girl found in the forests of Rat
tanakiri PROVINCE IN Cambodia is believed to
HAVE BEEN LIVING IN THE WILD FOR 19 YEARS.
contact and who lack language
and social skills. Such cases
are very rare but do occur.
Supporting the feral-child
claim are local police reports
describing the woman as "half
animal and half-human." Ac
cording to BBC News, when
the woman's alleged father
first saw her, she was naked
and walking like a monkey.
First-year Timothy Lind-
berg marveled at how tough
a woman would have to be to
survive alone in the wilder
ness for nearly two decades.
"If it really is her, that's
amazing," said Lindberg.
There are others, like Karen
Hayes, assistant professor of psy-
experienced severe abuse or tor
ture.
"It sounds sketchy. How would chology, who are also skeptical
an 8-year-old survive in the wil- about the woman's identity,
tify the woman is apparently demess?" Gmmbly said. "It's like "We don't really know any-
tiny compared to deep scars cir- 'The Jimgle Book.'" thing other than that this person
cling her left wrist and ankle that Although it seems unlikely appeared," Hayes said. "(How-
may have been caused by being that the woman disappeared as ever, if this is a feral-child case)
it would make sense that she
would be probably presenting
sounds that are like an infant.
We know those kinds of sounds
are universal."
The woman's alleged family
hopes that with time the woman
will be able to speak again and
will return to school. Hayes said
that with the appropriate inter
ventions the woman might be
able to regain her verbal skills
and receive an education.
Despite the family's warmth
towards their alleged daughter,
Lou and Soy have told report
ers that the woman has tried to
escape, presumably to return to
the jungle, and that they must
guard her at night.
The woman's alleged father
has agreed to have DNA tests
done to prove that the woman is
his daughter. Yet Lou has been
reluctant for a test to be per
formed, according to The Guard
ian.
Since the woman cannot
speak and is almost entirely non-
communicative, her true story
remains undiscovered.
Muslim educator suspended for refusing to remove veil
Deena Zaru I Staff Writer
Muslim teaching assistant Ms.
Aishah Azmi, 23, was suspended for
refusing to take off her veil in the
classroom by the Headfield Church
of England Junior School, in Dews
bury, U.K.
Some school officials believe that
Azmi's black veil, which reveals only
her eyes, is a communication barrier
that alienates her from her students.
Azmi argues that she had agreed
to remove the veil in the classroom,
as long as it was not in front of her
male colleagues.
Local government minister Mr. Phil
Woolas said to Al-Jazeera: "(Azmi)
should be sacked. She put herself in a
position where she can't do her job."
Ms. Azmi's lawyer, Nick Whitting-
ham, called for Woolas to withdraw
his comments, since they might influ
ence Azmi's employment tribunal.
Azmi told BBC that the veil has
never before been a barrier between
her and the children.
"The children are aware of my body
language, my eye expressions, the
way I'm saying things," Azmi said.
"If people think it is a problem, what
about blind children? They can't see
anything but they have a brilliant ed
ucation, so I don't think my wearing
the veil affects the children at all."
"Ms. Azmi is very well able to
carry out her role as a teaching assis
tant providing support to pupils who
speak English as a second language,"
Whittingham said to a BBC reporter.
"She has demonstrated in a number
of interviews that she can commu
nicate effectively while wearing the
veil."
"My own position would be to
agree with (Azmi)," said Assistant
Professor of religious studies and
women's studies Jane Redmont. "I
gather from the story that the stu
dents don't feel the veil is a barrier.
a veil during her live job interview,
which was conducted by both a fe
male and a male.
Azmi justified her not wearing the
veil in front of a male governor of the
and the primary concern in a school school to a BBC reporter.
GUARDIAN.CO.UK
RESTRICTION MAY POINT TO POLITICAL AND EDUCATIONAL DISCRIMINATION IN THE UNITED KINGDOM.
should be the total well being of the
students."
Associate Professor of Education
Studies David Hildreth highlighted
the importance of considering the
ages of the students Azmi taught as
part of deciding whether the veil is a
distraction.
"Children this age really want to
try to be accepted, and if some stu
dents make a big deal about the veil
then it might become a focal point for
other students," said Hildreth.
Azmi did not volunteer to the
school administration the fact that
she wears a veil, and she did not wear
"Yes, there was a male, but (my veil
was off) for only about five minutes,
and there was a female in the room,"
said Azmi.
"I'm not sure whether the veil
causes a barrier in communication,"
said Hildreth, "because you have to
look at every situation in context and
examine the culture of the school."
Azmi said, "I didn't realize that the
veil would be perceived as a prob
lem because this is a mainly Muslim
school and the female parents wear it
... if I had known it would be a prob
lem I would have said something."
"If the majority of the students
were familiar with (the veil) then it is
very possible that the veil was not a
distraction," said Hildreth.
Even though school officials in
sisted that Azmi's suspension was not
motivated by anti-Islamic sentiments,
Al-Jazeera reported that senior Brit
ish politicians and the country's me
dia have been accused of causing and
encouraging anti-Islamic feelings to
wards the wearing of veils by Mus
lims in the United Kingdom.
"The body integrity and the reli
gious and cultural integrity of the
teacher are very important," said
Redmont. "As long as the children's
learning and level of comfort does
not suffer, (Azmi) should be allowed
to wear the veil."
Muslim Hussam Dakkak, a London
college student, said in a telephone
interview: "It is very disrespectful
towards Islam for people to underes
timate the meaning of the veil. Just
because some Westerners do not iden
tify with it, does not give them the
right to discriminate against women
who wear it."
"The U.K. is struggling with what
it means to be a multi-faceted cultur
al and religious country," said Red
mont. "You really have to look at the
symbolic power of wearing a full veil
because currently there is an issue
with Islam and an issue with Arabic
cultures in the West."
"One of the jobs of educators is
to teach students to be open-minded
and be accepting of other cultures,"
said Hildreth. "This could have been
a situation for the school to teach the
students about different cultures and
that there are things that make us
all unique and we should celebrate
them."