Baby with tail 'reincarnation of Hindu god'

Ananova ^ | Friday 11th January 2002

[jonatron]

Crowds are flocking to Indian temples to see a Muslim baby with a 'tail' who is believed to be the reincarnation of a Hindu god.

The 11-month-old boy has been named Balaji or Bajrangbali, another name for monkey-faced Lord Hanuman.

He is reported to have a 4in 'tail' caused by genetic mutations during the development of the foetus.

Iqbal Qureshi, the child's maternal grandfather, is taking Balaji from temple to temple where people offer money to see the boy.

Mr Qureshi says the baby has nine spots on his body like Lord Hanuman and showed them to journalists, reports Indian newspaper The Tribune.

[jonatron]

Ain't that cute?

[Diddle E. Squat]

Yeah, but can he wag it when he's happy, or does something else happen?

[Otis Mukinfus]

Why is that old guy flipping us off?

[LibKill]

Cute? Odd. Very odd.

[Lady Jag]

It's sad they're using the poor child like that. I don't know any other way to put it, but don't they know if they don't remove the tail it will be then end of the kid?

[Cicero]

Hanuman the Monkey God is a most amusing character.

Doesn't this raise some pretty difficult problems, a Muslim child who is a Hindu god? The usual penalty for leaving Islam is death.

[The Drowning Witch]

That pic reminds me of an X-Files episode.....

[Otis Mukinfus]

It's a phoney image. Look at the way the left arm is attached to the shoulder. Did you ever see an arm that reduced in diameter one third down from the shoulder? The angle of the attachment of the buttox to the back seems a little off too.

I think it's a composite of a monkey's shaved body with the child's arms and head added in place of the monkey's

That's just my opinion. I could be wrong :)

[tortoise]

����`but it isn't unknown for humans to be born with tails. Everyone has a vestigial tail, and the DNA for a proper one is buried in our genome. When I was growing up in rural Washington, the sister of one of the boys in my class was born with a tail which was promptly removed surgically. We are kind of spoiled in the U.S. in that all these kinds of genome anomalies are typically fixed at birth, so we are frequently unaware of how common they are. We only hear about odd genetic anomalies when they happen in the third world where that surgery isn't really available and people actually grow up with these bizarre artifacts.

[SMEDLEYBUTLER]

Baby with tail 'reincarnation of Hindu god'

[COBOL2Java]

I think it's a composite of a monkey's shaved body with the child's arms and head added in place of the monkey's

You could have a rewarding career with American Media, Inc.! :-)

[Arthur McGowan]

What a beautiful religion!

[uvular]

Some great pics on that link!

Also could be an episode of Sci-Fi Channel's 'The Chronicles'; in fact last week's episode was about a monkey-girl....

[TN4Liberty]

The kid has spots and a tail. Why would a little funny dent on his upper arm surprise you? :-D

[SlickWillard]

a ... baby with a 'tail' ... caused by genetic mutations during the development of the foetus.

As though the baby and the foetus are two separate, disparate entities - one human, the other ripe for killing.

[SMEDLEYBUTLER]

Registered does it again.

[mad_as_he$$]

Wasn't that an X-files story?????

[Romestamo]

Ah yes, "Small Potatoes". That was a great episode.

[weikel]

Unenforceable in Hindu India.

[Slyfox]

Hmmm, bends to the left. Didn't Clinton visit India about two years ago?