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'Siberian Mowgli' emerges after 16 years in the forest

A man that claims to have lived in the Siberian wilderness for the past 16 years has emerged from the forest and been dubbed the "Siberian Mowgli."
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The "Siberian Mowgli" (Handout photo by the Belokuriha prosecutor's office.)
The "Siberian Mowgli" (Handout photo by the Belokuriha prosecutor's office.)
Published: Sept. 11, 2013 at 10:25 AM
By VERONICA LINARES, UPI.com | Blog

An unnamed man thought to be in his 20s emerged from the Siberian wilderness after reportedly living there for the past 16 years.

The man was found by a local woman living in a hut in the ground near the town of Belokurikha, a famous resort area in Russia's Altai region in south Siberia.

The man told authorities -- in delayed but clear speech -- that he was born in 1993 and had lived in the forest since 1997 when his parents decided to leave society. He explained that they left him alone in the hut in May and haven't returned since.

"He has got no education, doesn’t have any social skills and has no conception of the world outside of the woods," said Roman Fomin, a prosecutor in the town of Belokuriha Russia's RT TV network reported.

Media outlets have dubbed the man "forest boy" or "Siberian Mowgli" after the character in Rudyard Kipling's "The Jungle Book."

Officers explained that the man's parents will unlikely face abandonment charges because he was not a child when they left him.

“They only have criminal responsibility if some harm has been done to their child. The most obvious charge could be neglect or abuse, but we have no evidence of this,” the prosecutor said.

They added that locals claim to have seen the couple leaving for the island of Sakhalin, off Russia’s Pacific Coast.

As of now, the "Siberian Mowgli" continues to live in the forest where he is currently gathering firewood to prepare for winter.

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