THOUSANDS OF people have flocked to a remote Nepalese village 2,000m up in the Himalayas to worship a baby born with four arms and four legs, revering him as the reincarnation of a Hindu god.
Villagers in the district of Ramechhap have said six-month-old Risab, who has a headless “parasitic twin” attached at the abdomen, is akin to the elephant god, Ganesh, whose various forms have between two and 16 arms.
“Some say he is like a god and they come to worship him and give money,” his father, Rikhi Ghimire (32), said. “They just give a few rupees, make an offering. Mostly the gifts are food and clothes. Others have said he looks like a monkey or is the child of a witch.”
About 5,000 people have visited the baby since he was born, said local teacher Prem KC.
“Some say it is a miracle or that it is God, and others say it is a curse. There is a lack of awareness so villagers cannot understand it,” said Mr Ghimire.
Risab’s mother, Januk, who has two other sons, was in severe pain for five days before the delivery and thought she would die during labour. She gave birth in January on her porch with only her mother by her side. “When he was born I was frightened about what the other villagers would say,” she said. “If my husband hadn’t been there, I would have been scared they would say I was a witch and come and kill me.”
She said it was difficult to care for the child and even simple activities such as putting him to sleep or bathing him were not easy.
The family lives in a one-room house made of clay and stone and shared with goats and chickens, a day’s walk from the nearest main town. Mr Ghimire, who works in the fields all day, said he took Risab to a hospital in Kathmandu, the capital, where doctors said they would have to monitor him for six months. But as he could not afford to stay in the city, he was forced to return to the village with the baby. – (Guardian service)