A 12-year-old girl who was abducted and assaulted by men attempting to force her into marriage was discovered being guarded by three lions who appeared to have frightened her attackers away, a police officer said Tuesday.

Sgt. Wondimu Wedajo, speaking by phone from Bita Genet, 350 miles southwest of Addis Abeba, revealed that seven men had kidnapped the girl, who had been missing for a week, to force her to marry one of them.

Wondimu reported that police and family discovered her on the outskirts of Bita Genet on June 9, after numerous assaults. The lions had been guarding her for nearly half a day, he explained.

“They stood guard until we found her, and then they just left her like a gift and went back into the forest,” Wondimu told me.

“If the lions hadn’t come to her rescue, things may have been far worse.” He stated that these young girls often endure rape and severe beatings to coerce them into accepting the marriage.

‘Some sort of miracle’
Tilahun Kassa, a local government official who confirmed Wondimu’s account of events, stated that one of the guys intended to marry the girl against her desires.

“Everyone thinks this is some kind of miracle, because normally the lions would attack people,” Wondimu told the crowd.

Stuart Williams, a wildlife expert for the rural development ministry, believes the youngster may have survived because she was weeping from the shock of her attack.

Williams told reporters that they might mistake a young girl’s whimpering for a lion cub’s mewling sound, which could explain why they didn’t eat her.

Ethiopia’s lions, known for their enormous black manes, are the country’s national emblem, appearing on sculptures and local currency. Despite a recent crackdown, hunters continue to slaughter the creatures for their skins, which can sell for $1,000. Williams says that there are just 1,000 Ethiopian lions left in the wild.

The youngest of four siblings, according to Wondimu, was “shocked and terrified” after her kidnapping and required medical attention for her beating-related injuries.

He asserted that they had apprehended four of the abductors, leaving three at large.

Kidnapping young girls has long been part of Ethiopian marital customs. The United Nations reports that abduction arranges more than 70% of marriages in Ethiopia, a common practice in rural regions home to the majority of the country’s 71 million inhabitants.