A baby girl who was born in India with two torsos, four arms and four legs attracted huge crowds of well-wishers.
The baby was born with severe deformities which confined her to a hospital bed. As she was hooked up to life support machines, many members of the public waited outside the hospital in Lakhisarai, Bihar, to see her.
The little girl, who was born to mum Savita Devi and dad Suresh Saw, sadly died from complications after her birth on Friday due to her congenital deformity.
Ms Devi said she was in shock after losing her newborn, adding: “I think whatever happened it happened for good. If my baby lived on with these deformed, every day of his life would have been like death.”
Her husband, a farmer, echoed the sentiment saying:
We took every care during the pregnancy. We were hoping to welcome an able-bodied baby. But destiny had different plans – this time it was a cruel one.
We were gifted with a deformed baby. I didn’t know whether to be happy or feel sorry for the poor kid.
God must have cursed us for some sin, we committed in our previous life.
Dr Mukesh Kumar, who delivered the baby, said the child couldn’t be saved because it was not fully developed:
This is called congenital deformity. The fetus didn’t grow properly in the womb due [to] some reasons.
The [baby] was plagued by an extremely rare condition where a conjoined twin did not fully form.
Instead of growing a separate body, the other undeveloped baby’s limbs absorbed into his as a result of polymelia.
The rare disorder occurs in the womb when the cells form abnormally during embryonic development.
Our thoughts are with the family at this difficult time.
A former emo kid who talks too much about 8Chan meme culture, the Kardashian Klan, and how her smartphone is probably killing her. Francesca is a Cardiff University Journalism Masters grad who has done words for BBC, ELLE, The Debrief, DAZED, an art magazine you’ve never heard of and a feminist zine which never went to print.