'Miracle child' Lakshmi deified in Bihar village

Fri, Dec 21, 2007 at 16:12

Patna: Two-year-old Lakshmi Tatma, who was recently released from a Bangalore hospital after a complicated operation to remove her parasitic twin, is being deified in her village in Bihar where women have started worshipping her clay idol for divine blessings and good luck.


People in Lakshmi's Rampur Kodarkatti village in Araria district are upbeat about her successful operation and are eager to welcome her back home.
"We have planned a celebration to mark her presence," the villagers said. They have bought new clothes, sweets, chocolates, colourful balloons and toys as gifts.
Some villagers said she has divine powers while others said she is a miracle child and an incarnation of a Hindu goddess. But villagers are not sure when 'miracle child' Lakshmi will visit the village.
Most of the villagers are desperate to receive Lakshmi, who has become a household name across India and outside, after her successful operation.
They recalled that when Lakshmi was born with four arms, four legs and extra internal organs, they had declared her a rare child with divine power.
Now they are looking forward to a glimpse of her. "We prayed for her when doctors operated on her for removing her extra limbs," they said.
Her idol has been installed in the village and many villagers, particularly women, have started worshipping her. Her relatives are planning to build a temple dedicated to her.
Lakshmi's labourer father Shambu and mother Punam along with her brother left Sparsh Hospital in Bangalore Saturday night for their village near the Nepal border.
Lakshmi was brought to Bangalore in October for an operation to separate an ischiopagus twin - two bodies joined at the pelvis. Only one of the twins had a head, while the other was a parasite. Two pairs of legs and arms were formed at either end of the two adjoining torsos, making Lakshmi appear as a child with eight limbs