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14 Nov 04 - The birdman of Fiji: In 1980 welfare officers
in Fiji made a shocking discovery: a child who had grown up in a
chicken coop, who pecked at his food and roosted at night. For
years the so-called ‘chicken-boy’ has been an object of fear and
superstition. But now a behavioural scientist claims she can ‘cure’
him. Simon Harper investigates the birdman of Fiji. [more]
17 Jul 04 - Sad plight grabs world notice: From the
Observer in London to talkback radio in Canada, the story of Fijian
Sujit Kumar has been a sensation. Elizabeth Clayton, the expatriate
Australian who is taking care of Sujit, has been run off her feet
fielding media calls wanting to know more about the man known as
"chicken boy". The worldwide interest since the Herald published
a story about Sujit's tragic upbringing in a chicken coop has
amazed Ms Clayton, the president of the Suva Rotary Club. [more]
11 Jul 04 - Four years locked in a poultry coop, the next 20
tied to a bed: The people who care for Sujit Kumar call him a
boy, even though he is 32. The Fijian has never learned to speak
and is only just learning to behave like a human. The reason, they
claim, is that he spent his childhood locked in a chicken coop.
Psychologists and a team of American behavioural scientists have
been examining Kumar and his bizarre background which, if true, is
one of the most tragic cases of child abuse in Fiji. [more]
09 Jul 04 - "Chicken boy" learning to be human: A
32-year-old Fijian known as the "chicken boy" is getting help to
learn how to live like a human being. Sujit Kumar was tied to a bed
in a rest home for 20 years after being found in the middle of the
road pecking like a chicken. Kumar's grandfather had locked him up
in a chicken coop after his parents died. Kumar is now undoing all
the behaviour he learnt as a child with help from behavioural
expert Elizabeth Clayton. [more]
or: [go
direct to original TVNZ News clip - duration 4mins 58
secs]
July 2004 - Sujit Kumar, raised with chickens in Fiji: In
April of 1976, Sujit Kumar's mother committed suicide. His elderly
grandfather, not knowing how to care for him, confined him to a
chicken coop. Sujit Kumar was found one night in 1979 sitting in
the road. He was taken to the Samabula Old People's Home in Suva,
where because of his disruptive and violent behaviour he was tied
to a bed for the next 22 years, before being released and put into
therapy. [more]
03 Jul 04 - A lost 'boy' learns life from the start: The
people who look after Sujit Kumar in Fiji call him a boy, even
though he is 32 years old. He cannot speak and is only just
learning to communicate with humans. The reason, they say, is that
he was brought up among chickens. One of those helping to look
after him is Elizabeth Clayton, president of the Suva Rotary Club.
Ms Clayton - widow of New Zealand mountain climber Roger Buick, who
died on Mt Everest in 1998 - admits it is an astonishing claim, but
says it is true. She says that when she first met Sujit he pecked
at his food and would crouch down as if roosting. His fingers still
turn inward from scratching around in the dirt. [more]
Fate brings Sujit to
the attention of the world
June
2004 - NZ Herald journalist Catherine Masters is in Fiji reporting
on the F$1 billion of crystal methamphetamine “P” drug bust in
Bulei Rd, Laucala Bay, Suva. The factory producing the “P” drug was
next to Elizabeth Clayton’s factory. Local and overseas media
descended upon Bulei Rd. Catherine met Elizabeth and Sujit for the
first time. Her story about Sujit Kumar “the chicken boy” -
A
lost 'boy' learns life from the start - was published on
Saturday, July 3, 2004. The following articles preceded Catherine's
story that introduced Sujit to the world:
15
Jun 04 - Police probe link between Fiji drug bust and big heroin
haul: SUVA - Police are investigating a possible connection
between Fiji's big methamphetamine drug bust last week and a heroin
bust here in 2000. The Herald understands the Hong Kong nationals
arrested last week when a factory in Suva was found to contain
enough chemicals to make $1 billion of
crystal methamphetamine were associates of those involved in the
heroin operation...... When the Herald was at the site yesterday an
Australian woman who owns and lives in a factory next door came
running up to a Fijian policeman guarding the site, saying, "Why
are they telling us to evacuate?" Elizabeth Clayton said local
media had told her police were ordering residents to evacuate - but
said the New Zealand police had told her there was no need and had
briefed her fully on what they were planning to do when they began
opening the chemical drums today. "I'm as close as you can get.
It's alarmist rumours. They [the police] were thorough and they
explained in detail what they had to do. They explained the hazard
was in fact quite minimal." Her factory also houses the Suva
Christian School and a teacher told the Herald that the children
were going to school as
usual. He had not been told of any danger. [more]
12 Jun 04 - Inside the $1 billion drug factory: When police
threw open the mustard-coloured corrugated-iron doors to a drug
factory in Suva they were
confronted by scores of 200-litre drums of solvents and chemicals.
Thanks to a long-planned, carefully operated sting involving
Fijian, New Zealand and Australian police officers and Fijian
customs officers, they already knew what they would find and wore
chemical suits with respirators to filter out the pungent smell and
bad air. The factory, an innocuous concrete building tucked away
down a long driveway amid other factories in suburban Suva, was
manufacturing methamphetamines worth F$1 billion ($875 million) and
the drugs were probably destined for New Zealand and Australia.
[more]
11 Jun 04 - Fiji drugs: big-spenders gave the game away:
SUVA - A sinister display of wealth helped cause the downfall of
one of the world's largest drug syndicates. Signs of big money
seemed out of place in an industrial neighbourhood of Suva and
created suspicions among nearby factory workers. They were curious
as luxury cars with blacked-out windows and Asian passengers came
and went in the dead of night to a seemingly empty warehouse.
[more]
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