Villagers say parents did not leave girl to fend for herself
Villagers said yesterday that reports of a 12-year-old girl allegedly having to fend for herself over the past several years were untrue.
After the girl’s parents were banished from Baan Kum Ma Nai a decade ago, she still had her grandparents and aunt to tend to her, village headman Banleu Saengchompoo said yesterday. Plus, the girl’s mother regularly visited her.
Banleu said at a recent meeting to decide whether the girl’s parents should be allowed to return, most villagers still insisted that the girl’s father stay away. The father was banished over claims of being a cursed ghost.
“Reports missed key facts because the girl wasn’t abandoned. It’s impossible for a child to look after herself for 10 years, since the age of two in this case,” he pointed out. He said the girl had been living with her parents outside the village most of the time and had just returned home so she could attend school.
