Missing 4-Year-Old Girl Found 40 Hours Later In Forest Infested With Wild Elephants

A four-year-old girl was found alive and alone in a forest infested with wild elephants nearly 40 hours after she was reported missing from her home.

The girl, identified as Joshika from the Indian state of Karnataka, was reported missing by her parents Saturday evening. She was playing with her friends outside her house in the rural region of Kuppam, which borders a reserve forest, when she vanished, reported The Hindu.

Joshika's mother noticed her absence only at dusk. She immediately contacted the police, and a frantic search was launched for her. The police teams scoured the entire village, including open farm wells and water bodies abutting the forest.

However, the rescue operation soon extended to the reserve forest near the village after a dog squad was brought in. Though the dog picked up a scent trail and made its way toward the wilderness, it was unable to venture further from the edge of the forest.

The reserve forest, a habitat of wild elephants and other animals, is an extremely dangerous area. As Sunday went by without any hint of the girl, more forces were brought in for the search and rescue the next day. Close to noon, search personnel stumbled across feeble cries from inside the forest. Officers who rushed to the spot found the girl lying on the ground with minor bruises. She was immediately rushed to the hospital and was administered first aid. Joshika was soon handed over to her parents after doctors deemed her fit to return home.

However, authorities are clueless as to how the girl survived inside the forest for nearly 40 hours amid intense heat without food or water. The fact that Joshika showed little signs of fatigue has prompted the police to investigate whether she was kidnapped. Police believe the abductor may have panicked after seeing the mammoth search operation launched for her, leading to abandoning her.

Officers said they were waiting for the girl to fully recover to narrate what had happened when she went missing. She is currently in a dazed condition and is unable to speak.

Recently, a toddler was rescued from near a cave in a forest. The two-year-old girl was reportedly kidnapped by a man who confessed to leaving her outside a cave as a sacrifice to the spirits of the mountains and forest.