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Comment by kumarm | Hacker News Reader

Hope her integration to society is handled carefully. So far she has been treated like an animal in zoo by humans too (Check the photos of groups of people looking at her):

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/eight-year-old-girl...

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4386060/Mowgli-girl-...

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Don't even think about it. This is one reason I felt she was better left the way she was.

Rehabilitation in India is a joke. The people attending to her neither have the knowledge not resources to cater to her.

Mental asylums and health centers in India are filled with sexual predators. They know that she can't complain about it nor would someone lend an ear if she tried to say something. Which makes her an easy target. Sexual abuse is the norm in mental health centers here.

Most mental health centers lack infrastructure, resources and fall short of trained personnel. It is a common sight to see patients chained, and thrown food at.

My first reaction when I heard the news - She was better in the forest away from the predators. I hope she gets the right sophisticated care and compassion she needs at this point of time.

I think you have been watching too many movies lately. Your blanket statement about health centres is far from the truth.

It's not all that far from the truth in the US. Why should India be different?

A naked girl running through the wilderness isn't exactly safe from sexual abuse and predation.

Sounds like she had a cadre of monkeys protecting her. That would probably deter all but the most determined sexual predators.

Heh, that's what I was thinking.

I don't know... she was protected by a group of monkeys. Seeing monkeys on Planet Earth I'd say that is some pretty solid protection.

Until some of the male monkeys decide that she's a good enough substitute for a female monkey.

We're not the only species that produces rapists.

Well I was going to say even at 10 she had probably already discovered that but she also probably developed a different concept of rape and sexual assault.

From the administration, to hospital staff, to law enforcement, everybody's only motive right now is/would be to get some circus time and then get rid of her somehow or the other.

I've lived all my life here and though I am not sure whether you are from here but when I read, "Rehabilitation in India is a joke", my first reaction was it's an understatement!.

Or she might as well be treated as a guinea pig in the guise of "research".

Aside: Interesting that the Malayam and Bengali versions of the article censor the girl's face from the header photo, and exclude the mid-article photo (the Hindi and English versions have both pictures fully intact). I could see that for the Malayam version, but I didn't totally expect it for the Bengali version.

Did you mean "Malayalam"?

EDIT: For those who don't understand the reference, "Malayalam" [1] is the official language of the South Indian state of Kerala.

The question was asking if the parent post mistyped "Malayam" instead of "Malayalam".

Looks like some folks have misunderstood my post and reacted negatively.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malayalam

Yeah, it was a typo introduced paradoxically by my spellchecker. Somebody misspelled Malayalam as Malayam on my Chrome, then added it to the dictionary (!). Anyway, yes, I meant Malayalam.

The wikipedia article says it's pronounced "mʌləˈjɑːləm" (3rd syllable stressed), yet don't people in Kerala say "mʌˈlɑːjələm" (2nd syllable stressed, last 2 syllables almost spoken as one). It's been 30 yrs since I visited, so maybe I remember wrongly. If so, then maybe writing "Malayam" instead of "Malayalam" isn't too far wrong.

> If so, then maybe writing "Malayam" instead of "Malayalam" isn't too far wrong.

No, it's very far wrong. (I'm a Malayali.)

> The wikipedia article says it's pronounced "mʌləˈjɑːləm" (3rd syllable stressed), yet don't people in Kerala say "mʌˈlɑːjələm" (2nd syllable stressed, last 2 syllables almost spoken as one). It's been 30 yrs since I visited, so maybe I remember wrongly.

Can anyone verify the correct pronunciation?

Sorry, you remember incorrectly. The former pronunciation is correct. The stress is on the third syllable.

For other Indians, please stop bringing your regional biases to global forums. Also 'Malayam'. Really?

Thanks. The Daily Mail has quite a bit information than the posted article. Most interesting part:

> 'She is still not able to speak, but understands whatever you tell her and even smiles,' Singh said

I feel there is a good chance that she was better off with monkeys.

Me too...

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