Indian parents got the shock of their life after they saw their six-day-old baby boy bursting into flames.

The boy's mother, who gave her name as K Rajeswari, said her baby caught fire six days after he was born. The child was immediately rushed to hospital where a team of doctors are running a series of tests on the boy.

The child is given day-and-night care as doctors are waiting for the results of the tests to decide on his treatment. This is not the first time that Ms Rajeswari has claimed that one of her children has spontaneously caught fire.

In August 2013 she brought her three-month-old son Rahul to the hospital claiming that her boy suffers from spontaneous human combustion. Doctors ran tests on the boy and did not find any signs indicating a rare condition.

At that time the village community ostracised Rajeswari and her family as their neigbours suspected them of deliberately putting the baby on fire. Meanwhile scientists are still searching for explanation to spontaneous human combustion.

READ ALSO: Spontaneous Human Combustion - Reality or Myth?

There is theory is that the human body can become an ‘inside out’ candle. The person’s clothes are the wick, while their body fat is the wax or flammable substance, that keeps the blaze going.

Limbs may be left intact because of the temperature gradient, with the bottom half of the body being cooler than the top. Some have postulated that static electricity could cause the needed spark.