© Barcroft India / Barcroft Media
In a remote and rural Indian village a severely obese girl is
literally eating her family out of house and home.
For full story and pictures:
In just one week, five-year-old Suman Khatun devours over 10 kilograms
of rice, 24 eggs, six litres of milk and five kilos of potatoes.
Her insatiable hunger even leads her to sneak out and pester her
neighbours for food in the village of Metiala in the Indian state of
West Bengal.
Earning just £6 a week, her parents have reached their wits end with
their daughter who weighs in at almost 12 stone, despite being only
three and half feet tall.
© Barcroft India / Barcroft Media
“We can not feed our other two children, let alone ourselves,” says
Suman’s mother Belly Bibi, 33.
“When she is not fed she cries, shouts, screams and has even thrown
rocks at us.
“We give her four square meals a day and two small lunches, but this
is never enough.
“She is our daughter and we have no choice but to feed her.”
© Barcroft India / Barcroft Media
Neighbours in the rural village also expect a daily knock on the door
from hungry Suman.
“Every day we open our doors to a smiling Suman,” says Faruq Khan, who
farms the next rice paddy field.
“She comes to play with our daughter, but always ends up asking for
biscuits or some roti (Indian bread).
“It is no trouble at all for us, but it is difficult for her parents.”
Crippled by their daughter’s appetite, Suman’s family has been unable
to afford to travel to Calcutta for expert medical treatment.
“We have relied on the local doctor here who believes that Suman
suffers from a hormonal problem,” says Jalal Khan, 37, Suman’s father.
“We are desperate to get her help, because we worry for Suman’s
health, which is not good.”
© Barcroft India / Barcroft Media
Suman struggles to walk as she suffers from severe respiratory problems.
“Suman’s problems were first noticed when she was three months old,”
says Dr P.C Saha, the local doctor for Birbhum district which includes
Metiala.
“I believe that it is a clear case of a malfunctioning pituitary gland.
“But without diagnostic tools I can only treat the symptoms.
Dr Saha, who is assigned to Metiala from Calcutta, which is the
largest city in West Bengal, says that he has never seen a case like
this in his life.
“Her parents came to me when she was young and told me that she was
exhausting her mother through breast feeding and that they were
supplementing this with cow’s milk.
“They said that she was drinking up to 1 and a half litres of milk a
day.
“She weighed seven stone when she was two years old and her weight has
increased by up to 15 kilos every year.
“I have told her parents that she will die if they do not stop feeding
her or seek expert medical care in Delhi or in Mumbai.”
Words by James Nye
Related posts:
- Being Disabled Didn’t Stop Me Becoming A World Champion Arm Wrestler Super strong Joby Matthew may be several feet shorter than...
- Bodyshock – The Smallest Girl In The World Tiny Jyoti Amge is already a ‘mini’ celebrity in...
- 9 Year Old Boy Limbo Skates Blindfolded Under 4 Cars A nine-year-old boy has amazingly set a new world...
- Doctors May Seperate Pakistani Conjoined Twins Doctors at a hospital in Pakistan are debating whether to...
- Surgeons Remove Deadly 10cm Splinter From Boy’s Eye in Six Hour Operation Surgeons in Delhi have removed a 10 cm long wooden...
- 9-Year-Old World Record Breaking Limbo Skater Nine year old student Rohan Ajit Kokane from Belgaum...
- Dog Of The Match Jack Can’t Stop Playing Football As the world of football prepares to fight it out...
- Nine-year-old Child Genius Gymnast Model Earns Six Figure Salary She counts the First Lady Michelle Obama as a pen...