Woman naked for 50 years For nearly half a century, the Muong people of this village in Hoa Binh Province have become accustomed to the image of a naked figure in their community. She is Ms. Dinh Thi Dong, 53, who never wears clothes.   Upon seeing strangers, Dong hastily covered her body with a blanket. Dong’s village is situated in the Da Bac District’s Tien Phong Commune. To meet with her, reporters had to scale dozens of steep, slippery slopes. Mr. Khanh, the guide, explained that, even when it's very cold, with temperatures down to 9-10 degrees Celsius, Dong does not wear anything. "She is very healthy. Whether it is cold or hot, rainy or sunny, she is still naked. Only on extremely cold days does she stay at home to be near the fire,” Khanh said. Upon seeing strangers, Dong hastily covered her body with a blanket. But after the guide’s introduction in the Muong language, her reticence seemed to ease, and she became less shy. Appearing much older than her real age, with sunken eyes and wrinkled face, she said: "I do not know why I cannot wear clothes. If I put them on, I feel uncomfortable, irritable and itchy, and I just want to tear them into pieces". Despite never wearing clothes, this strange woman has never been sick at all. "My body is healthy, the skin is very thick. I don’t feel the cold," she added. She pulled away the blanket, revealing her bare back with rough and blackened skin. Ms. Dong's house on stilts. "Previously I was very frustrated. I did not dare to appear in front of others. But gradually I have stopped hiding myself from my fellow villagers. Only before strangers must I shield my body. I know that I’m strange and it is a miserable existence for me, but I cannot do anything about it." Dong is the fifth child in a family of six brothers and sisters. At birth, she was normal like any other child. Everything changed when she was 5 years old, after family upheaval. Her parents died young from diseases. Relatives took four of Dong’s siblings to Dak Lak, but left Dong and her younger sister. The changes were a shock to Dong. From a normal child, she became taciturn. And, she lost the habit of wearing clothes. At first, because she was so small, the villagers paid little attention to her. But as she grew up, neighbors recognized there was something strange about her, but found that it was too late to change her behavior. Some initially thought she was too poor to afford anything to wear, so they gave her clothes. She received them but she did not wear them. If she was forced to wear clothes, she tore them off after several minutes. The villagers knew that Dong was not mad because she was very intelligent. So they believed that she was haunted or under a spell. They invited exorcists to "chase away the ghosts", but that proved fruitless. Although Dong does not wear clothes, her life remains normal. Every day, she goes to work like everyone else in the village. She goes to the field to plant rice and cassava and to the river to catch fish. Mr. Dinh Van Tan, the village chief said: "Many times I saw her going into the forest to pick firewood with clothes in her basket. She’d put them on before climbing up a tree. After gathering firewood, she’d take off the clothes again and return them to her basket. She said she wore clothes to climb trees to avoid being scratched." A fisherman says each time she goes fishing, Dong is also nude. She stands to row very powerfully. But every time another boat passes, she sits down, turns her back or covers her body with something until the boat is fairly distant. "I was very curious about Ms. Dong at first, but then I felt pity for her, so when we accidentally saw her, we deliberately avoided her so she could do her job comfortably," the fisherman said. It is not easy to force Dong to wear clothes. Even her relatives and her younger sister cannot persuade the woman to wear clothes. "Once provincial officials paid a visit to our village. Several local officials bought nice clothes for my sister. Some villagers gathered to help her get dressed but when the clothes were just put on my sister, she almost went mad and began tearing them apart. She even tore the clothes with a knife. Since then no one has dared to force my sister to wear clothes," said Dong’s sister. The sister said that Dong refused medical checkups. Sometimes medical workers asked the police to help but after seeing doctors and police officers, Dong hid herself in forest for several days. Given her odd habit, Dong could not have her own family. That doesn’t concern her, or so she professes. But what does trouble her is guilt over the plight of her younger sister. "Because of me, my sister cannot get married,” she said in tears. PLVN