India two-faced baby's family refuses special care

SAINI, India (Reuters) - The family of an Indian baby bornwith two faces has refused special medical treatment for theinfant, saying she is the incarnation of a Hindu goddess.

The month-old girl suffers from what appears to becraniofacial duplication, an extremely rare congenital disorderin which part of the face is duplicated on the head.

Lali (red), born to a family of poor farm labourers in avillage about 55 km (34 miles) east of New Delhi, has an extrapair of eyes, nose, and lips.

Media reports said she ate with both mouths and blinked allfour eyes.

The anomaly gave the newborn god-like status in thevillage, with hundreds of people flocking to the family'sdilapidated brick house to worship her and seek blessings.

The family sees little to differentiate her from otherbabies and refused to take her to a specialist doctor.

"She is fine. She sleeps, eats and cries like other normalbabies ... A local doctor said there is nothing wrong with thechild," Bhram Singh, Lali's grandfather, told Reuters in thisvillage of brick houses and wheat fields.

But he insists the infant is the incarnation of a Hindugoddess and points to the loudspeaker outside his house whichblares religious hymns all day.

Villagers believe Lali, named that because of her brightred cheeks, is a form of Shakti, the Hindu goddess of power.

"The birth is a miracle and a good sign for the village,"said Daulat Ram, the village chief.

But the number of onlookers has dwindled as the "miracle"turns a month old on Friday, and few visitors now venture intothe dusty lanes of Saini looking for the house where Lalilives.

Ram says that's because everyone in the vicinity hadsatiated their curiosity.

"People are busy with the harvest season and have work todo. They won't keep coming back at this time."

(Editing by Krittivas Mukherjee and Jerry Norton)