An abandoned disabled girl was found in Battambang’s Phnom Sampov commune on Tuesday, police said.
The girl was left in a scarf fashioned into a hammock in the trees near Sampov Mountain at a spot where people could see her, said Banan district police chief, Tan Vanny. A doll and milk were nearby.
“The girl looked just fine, but she is mentally ill and could not move,” Vanny said, adding she also cannot talk, and her foot and leg were limp.
Police are looking for the relatives, who could face up to three years in prison for abandoning an underage person, he said. Vendors in the area said they saw two men riding a moto bring her to the area.
The girl was taken to the government-run Borey orphanage in Battambang on Tuesday, said Pen Veasna, assistant chief of the facility. “She is probably 4 to 5 years old. She is lacking Vitamin A, and we [will] cure her mouth sore,” he said. She also needs physical therapy. “I don’t know if she can walk or will recover, because we have not treated her yet.”
The orphanage now has seven abandoned disabled children, he added.
Ross Layton, of the Cambodian Children’s Trust in Battambang, said: “Many families struggle to care for disabled children, due to limited community-based supports and limited specialist services in Battambang for [such] children.”
Additional reporting by Donna M Airoldi
