CHITA, July 24 (RIA Novosti) - A court in the Eastern Siberian city of Chita took away the parental rights of the mother and father of a girl who was "raised" by dogs and cats, an aide to the local prosecutor said on Friday.
Five-year-old Natasha, nicknamed Mowgli by Russian media after the character from The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling, has not learned to speak and makes only animal-like noises, despite sharing a three-room flat with her father and other relatives.
It is believed that she had never been out of the building before she was discovered by police.
The child, who was found "unwashed, in dirty clothes, and with the habits of a domestic animal," is at the physical development stage of a 2- or 3-year-old and is now being treated in a social-rehabilitation center.
A criminal case on non-fulfillment of parental duties was opened on June 3 and investigations are continuing. Natasha's parents, Viktor and Yana Mikhailov, could be imprisoned for up to three years if found guilty.
