Kidnapped 12-year-old was being forced into marriage by captors—3 lions came to her rescue in the most heroic way
Trigger Warning: This article contains themes of abuse that some readers may find distressing.
It is often said that animals have a heart that understands. They can differentiate between right and wrong and respond in the most unexpected ways. A story from 2005 is resurfacing on the internet as a beautiful reminder that nature’s wildlife, too, has thoughtfulness and brilliant capacities where it's needed the most. A decade ago, a 12-year-old girl was kidnapped and beaten, PEOPLE reported. After days of her being missing, the little girl was to be forced into marriage by her captors. Three lions became her life-savers at the nick of time and the story is beyond impressive.
The young girl was reportedly kidnapped on her way from school. She had been missing for a week before police found traces of her location. The kidnappers had moved her to a remote location where she was beaten and held captive for a while. She was on the move with the captors when a pride of lions was alerted. It is believed that her scream for help and her crying gave the carnivores the idea that she might be in trouble. Even then, one wouldn’t imagine that a lion would rescue a child. That’s where their perception came into play. Somehow, they realized the girl was in trouble and acted.
They chased the kidnappers off and the little girl was left alone with the lions, BBC News revealed. The question then was whether she would be safe or even alive being alone right in front of the carnivores. To everyone’s surprise, the lions did not attack her and remained with her until she was found. Sergeant Wondmu Wedaj, who was involved in the case, recalled the unbelievable view they arrived at. "They stood guard until we found her and then they just left her like a gift and went back into the forest," the policeman said. The girl stated that she was beaten by the kidnappers but not harmed by the lions at all, and the incident left many in confusion.
It was noted that the girl was crying and terrified throughout and that is what might have saved her life. Wildlife expert Stuart Williams explained, “A young girl whimpering could be mistaken for the mewing sound from a lion cub, which in turn could explain why they didn’t eat her.” No one knows what the result would have been had they found the girl a little later. It is also argued that the predators might have been preparing to attack and devour the girl. "They were probably preparing to eat her but were intercepted by the police and the others," game hunter Colonel Lemma Legesse noted.
According to Tanzania Safari, humans are not the natural diet of lions. They’re most likely to be attacked only if they invade their territory, prevent them from finding prey or if the lions are ill or aged. Nevertheless, the very fact that the lions recognized the girl in need of help and acted astutely makes this a positive story. The officer added, “Everyone thinks this is some kind of miracle, because normally the lions would attack people.” Out of the seven men involved in the kidnapping, four were caught.