The Assyrian Girl who Drowned and was Never Found!
By: Ashur Sada. Feb. 11, 2006
It was a beautiful summer morning in Northern Iraq. It was a morning not unlike
any other good and fun summer day, especially for kids. Assyrian kids,
teens and even adults, were busy playing in the little river that passes this
Assyrian village. A village that sits at the most remote tip of the province of
Barwar.
Amongst those playing in the local river, there was two young female cousins.
They were having the time of their life, swimming and just playing with the
water. It is one of those innocent and pure moments of childhood that are as
pure as they can be. The two treated the river as their friend, who was there
whenever they needed to have some fun and enjoy their time. Never did it
cross their mind that the river was motionless, and doesn't understand how they
feel towards it.
As everyone was busy playing and having fun, one of the two cousins stepped away
from her spot and went deep into the river. Moments later, this fun and
beautiful morning would turn into a real tragedy! The girl was gone in seconds,
swallowed by the rapid moving river. The cousin didn't realize what had
happened, until she looked around and her cousin was nowhere to be found.
Suddenly, the children and everyone else playing in the river started screaming
and pointing in the direction of the girl who was being pushed by the river. Few
moments later, the girl had already been taken far enough to be invisible to the
eyes of the shocked crowd. News of her disappearance quickly spread, and
few minutes later her family had come rushing to the river in hopes of finding
her. They quickly spread, and each started looking in one direction of the
river.
Hours and days passed by, and the family was still looking. They followed the
path of the river, for as long as they could, and found no traces of her. They
scoured every hospital and any relevant places for any signs leading to her, but
to no avail. It is hard to give up, but at the same time, it is hard to
keep your hopes forever. And in fact, some twenty years later, the family has
still not given up hope totally. The girl's disappearance was such a shock
to the family and local village people, people came up with some crazy and weird
theories as to what happened to her. Some think that she simply drowned,
and was found later by others who in turn buried her. At that time and in
such a place, there is nowhere to report to and find the whereabouts of a dead
body. Another interesting theory believes that the girl may not have been
dead after all. Rather, she was in a comma when she got found by some people,
who took her in and cared for her. To make the theory even more interesting, her
head may have hit several rocks as she was being pushed by the river, and that
has impacted her memory and consciousness. Therefore, when the person
found her and picked her up, she may have already forgotten who she was, who her
family was etc. The last theory states that the girl was dead in seconds after
her drowning and that creatures living in the river simply fed on her body,
hence why there has been no traces of her body till now.
Whatever happened, it hurts to know that had this happened in a more developed
country, the girl would have been found, be it alive or dead. Even if
found dead, there would be more comfort for the family, than to still be
clinging to a thin hope that the girl may still be alive. Thanks to
psychology's concept of 'Classical Conditioning' the family has developed a hate
not just for the river or rivers in general, but anything that remotely
resembles a river or water. That river which was a playground for the young girl
had turned into her own grave!
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