Kamala and Amala
Kamala (* probably 1912/1913; † November 14, 1929 ) and Amala (* 1919 ; † September 21, 1921 ) were two so-called wolf children who were born on October 9, 1920 in the West Bengal district of Godamuri in India by the missionary, priest and rector of the local orphanage Joseph Amrito Lal Singh were found. Singh recorded his observations on the children in a diary.
All information about the two children comes exclusively from Singh, no other witnesses were known, which is why the authenticity of the story has been questioned on various occasions. According to his diary entries, they were found in the den of an aggressive she-wolf, who defended her and two wolf cubs with their lives. Kamala was then seven or eight years old, Amala around 18 months. The two girls were forcibly torn from a wolf pack and taken to the Midnapore orphanage. Presumably, Amala and Kamala were siblings. In human care, the two girls showed the behavior typical of wolf children. For example, they would not be attracted, scratch and bite people who tried to approach them, refuse cooked food, and walk on all fours. Their perception is said to have been so strongly influenced by the sensory world of the wolves that they were able to perform sensory performances that were impossible for humans: They were able to smell meat from a distance of over 60 meters and to hear noises that were imperceptible to civilized people. Amala died in 1921, a year after she was diagnosed with kidney disease. When Amala died, Kamala showed signs of sadness . From this point on, Kamala also became more accessible. She learned to speak a few words and, with great effort, to walk upright. She died of uremia in 1929 .
criticism
French surgeon Serge Aroles researched the case and accused Singh of fraud. The diary was only written in 1935, 6 years after Kamala's death. The photographs, which are supposed to show the two girls on all fours and eating raw meat, were only taken in 1937. The physical abnormalities reported by Singh (including very sharp and long teeth, night vision) have not been confirmed by third parties.
literature
- John McCrone: Wolf Children and the Bifold Mind . In: The Myth of Irrationality: The Science of the Mind from Plato to Star Trek . Carroll & Graf Pub. 1994. Archived from the original on October 24, 2010. Retrieved October 18, 2005.
- David Horthersall: History of Psychology . 2004.
- Michael Newton: Wild Children. Fates beyond civilization. Magnus-Verlag, Essen 2004, ISBN 3-88400-413-1
Individual evidence
- ^ David Crystal: The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Language (Engl.) Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1987, p. 289:
- ↑ JAL Singh: The "Wolf Children" from Midnapore m Quelle & Meyer, Heidelberg 1964, Oetinger, Hamburg 1986. ISBN 3-7891-1752-8
- ↑ L'Enigme des enfants-loup. Publibook, 2007, ISBN 978-2-7483-3909-3