Villagers Worship Baby With Two Faces

Source: The Associated Press

Posted: 04/08/08 9:58AM

Filed Under: World

NEW DELHI (AP) - A baby with two faces has been born in a northern Indian village, where she is doing well and is being worshipped as the reincarnation of a Hindu goddess.

Photo Gallery: Two-Faced Baby Worshipped as Goddess

AP Photo/Gurinder Osan

'She is Just Like Any Other Child'

Parents Sushma, left, and Vinod Singh pose with their daughter Lali at their residence in Saini Sunpura, 50 kilometers (31 miles) east of New Delhi, India, Tuesday, April 8, 2008. The baby with two faces, two noses, two pairs of lips and two pairs of eyes was born on March 11 in a northern Indian village, where she is doing well and is being worshipped as the reincarnation of a Hindu goddess, her father said Tuesday.

Hundreds of pilgrims have visited Lali, the one-month-old baby, and her impoverished parents to touch her feet out of respect and receive blessings.

NOTE: Poll results are not scientific and reflect the opinions of only those users who chose to participate. Poll results are not reflected in real time.

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Do you think doctors should attempt surgery on this girl?

Yes	23%
No	56%
I'm not sure	21%

Total Votes: 2393

Note on poll results

NOTE: Poll results are not scientific and reflect the opinions of only those users who chose to participate. Poll results are not reflected in real time.

Back to Poll Results

Do you think Lali will be able to live through her medical condition?

Yes	34%
No	33%
I'm not sure	33%

Total Votes: 2207

Note on poll results

The baby - who has two noses, two pairs of lips and two pairs of eyes, has caused a sensation in the dusty village of Saini, 40 kilometres from New Delhi.

Hospital director Sabir Ali says that when the baby left the hospital, eight hours after a normal delivery, she was swarmed by villagers.

Ali says the baby drinks milk from her two mouths and opens and shuts all the four eyes at one time.

The child apparently has an extremely rare condition known as craniofacial duplication, where a single head has two faces. All of Lali's facial features are duplicated with the exception of her ears - she has two.

Lali's condition is often linked to serious health complications, but the doctor said she was doing well.

"She is leading a normal life with no breathing difficulties," said Ali, adding that he saw no need for surgery.

Lali's parents, Vinod and Sushma Singh, were married in February 2007, according to news reports. Lali is their first child.

"Initially we had some problem in accepting the child but now everything is fine," Sushma Singh told The Hindustan Times. "She is just like any other child."

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