SAINI SUNPURA, India - A baby with two faces was born 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.

The baby, Lali, apparently has an extremely rare condition known as craniofacial duplication, where a single head has two faces. Except for her ears, all of Lali's facial features are duplicated — she has two noses, two pairs of lips and two pairs of eyes.

"My daughter is fine — like any other child," said Vinod Singh, 23, a poor farm worker.

Story continues below ↓
-----
advertisement



-----

Lali has caused a sensation in the dusty village of Saini Sunpura, 25 miles east of New Delhi. When she left the hospital, eight hours after a normal delivery on March 11, she was swarmed by villagers, said Sabir Ali, the director of Saifi Hospital.

"She drinks milk from her two mouths and opens and shuts all the four eyes at one time," Ali said.

Rural India is deeply superstitious and the little girl is being hailed as a return of the Hindu goddess of valor, Durga, a fiery deity traditionally depicted with three eyes and many arms.

'Leading a normal life'
Up to 100 people have been visiting Lali at her home every day to touch her feet out of respect, offer money and receive blessings, Singh told The Associated Press.

"Lali is God's gift to us," said Jaipal Singh, a member of the local village council. "She has brought fame to our village."


Gurinder Osan / AP
The baby's rare condition is often linked to serious health complications, but Lali is doing well, a doctor says.
-----

Village chief Daulat Ram said he planned to build a temple to Durga in the village.

"I am writing to the state government to provide money to build the temple and help the parents look after their daughter," Ram said.

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 were married in February 2007. Lali is their first child.

Singh said he took his daughter to a hospital in New Delhi where doctors suggested a CT scan to determine whether her internal organs were normal, but Singh said he felt it was unnecessary.

"I don't feel the need of that at this stage as my daughter is behaving like a normal child, posing no problems," he said.

kewl,



daddy is hawt

horatio said:

I was thinking the same thing about the Pops

She's beautiful.

it's a giiiirrrlll

wow! I have so many questions... she can see out both pairs of eyes? how does the brain interpret that... is it one visual field or two?

Stymie said:

i agree..
i wonder when she gets older and begins to speak... will she have the ability to choose with mouth she'll use...

i really would love to know more about her!

Imago said:

Well, that's pretty amazing because in a lot of places like that a child with that issue would be killed at birth and elsewhere that person's life would be a bit rough, that kid is truly blessed to be there.

little sweetie

i'm glad she was born into a culture that will worship her

sammij said:

I wonder if she'll be raised as a god actually.


Would be interesting to see. I've always been fascinated by The Dali Lama's upbringing too. I mean , to be raised with completely different standards than everyone else--not just an 'elite' class amongst others, like celebrity children, royal children, etc--who do have peers... But completely unique with no equal--it has to be strange.

Imago said:

The mother is very beautiful as well.

wow! my friend had told me about this, this morning, hadn't seen her picture til now, I wonder if she can move both faces?

horatio said:

I thought that too

what is going on in india that these wild births are happening!

Imago said:

i'm curious about this too.

SupaFunkyOrgangrinderSexy said:

Are you joking right now?

SupaFunkyOrgangrinderSexy said:

Maybe it's due to the massive population there? Strictly a numbers game?

Dance said:

No

When is the last time YOU saw this?

SupaFunkyOrgangrinderSexy said:

I'm so silly. You're absolutely right. India is the only place with these issues. Continue shitting on the country. Have fun.

Perhaps she was to be a twin, and something happened. ~Interesting~

Dance said:

Whatever

SupaFunkyOrgangrinderSexy said:

I gave you the reason why I believe you see a lot of these birth defects in India. Again, it's just with a population that is so high you tend to see those one in a million cases in that country.

JustErin said:

I was talking to Dance. I wasn't making fun of anything. I was asking a question because you don't hear about these births happening here. For whatever reason I don't know. I was wondering if maybe in India's booming economic growth that the indian people are exposed to chemicals and stuff that would make these births more likely.

SupaFunkyOrgangrinderSexy said:

I know you were talking to him.

And I gave you the reason (twice) why you see it in India.

WOW.

Dance said:

Wow What?! Go ahead and list me the last highly publicized American baby with 2 faces. Ready, set, go! I'm not saying birth defects don't happen here but you tell me, when is the last time....

JustErin said:

why are you replying to my replies to dance!

SupaFunkyOrgangrinderSexy said:

I wasn't. I was replying to you. I can't talk to you if you're talking to someone else?