A baby girl born with two faces in a north Indian village is being
worshipped as the reincarnation of the Hindu god, Lord Ganesha.
The three-week-old unnamed baby from Saini village in Uttar
Pradesh state, 30 miles north-east of the capital New Delhi, is being
hailed as a "miracle" child.
Hundreds of locals are flocking to seek her "blessing" and,
in keeping with Indian traditional, showering her parents with money.
"At first I was a little afraid," Vinod Kumar Singh, the
24-year-old father said of his first child born last month. "But then I
accepted whatever God gives."
To the largely illiterate villagers from the agricultural community the
little girl is a reincarnation of Lord Ganesh, the half person and half
elephant, and one of the most worshipped deities in the Hindu pantheon.
He is a highly benevolent god revered as the remover of obstacles and creating new beginnings.
"It's a gift from God. Some people say she is like a goddess," schoolmaster Harsharan Singh gushed.
Little, however, is known of the baby's physical condition as her parents are not permitting doctors to examine her.
"They are not aware enough that they should come in for
treatment," Dr M Ashmosd, who delivered the baby at the local government
hospital, said.
"I have told them that we are ready to do the CT scan on her for free. But they have ignored me."
Another local doctor, Bridal Nagar, said she was not an "abnormal baby" but just one with two faces living a normal life, but who might face problems later on.
"And if she dies it's as God wishes," he added.
Last year surgeons a two-year-old girl from a conjoined headless twin and reconstructed her body in a gruelling operation lasting nearly 27 hours in Bangalore, southern India.
successfully separated
Born with four arms and four legs but a single head, Lakshmi Tatma was named after the four-armed Hindu goddess of wealth and is growing up normally.
He is a highly benevolent god revered as the remover of obstacles and creating new beginnings.
"It's a gift from God. Some people say she is like a goddess," schoolmaster Harsharan Singh gushed.
Little, however, is known of the baby's physical condition as her parents are not permitting doctors to examine her.
"I have told them that we are ready to do the CT scan on her for free. But they have ignored me."
Another local doctor, Bridal Nagar, said she was not an "abnormal baby" but just one with two faces living a normal life, but who might face problems later on.
"And if she dies it's as God wishes," he added.
Last year surgeons a two-year-old girl from a conjoined headless twin and reconstructed her body in a gruelling operation lasting nearly 27 hours in Bangalore, southern India.
successfully separated
Born with four arms and four legs but a single head, Lakshmi Tatma was named after the four-armed Hindu goddess of wealth and is growing up normally.
