An Indian baby born with a third arm, the result of a genetic abnormality, is apparently being “worshipped as a god.”

Radhika Sahu gave birth to the infant in November, only to see an extra hand growing out of the girl’s chest. An operation should be able to remove the hand without doing any further damage to the body, but that hasn’t stopped media outlets from reporting that people are treating the child as some sort of deity. Hinduism, of course, has multiple gods who have extra body parts, a way to show their supposed power over worldly forces.

None of the media outlets that I could find pointed to how the baby was being worshiped. Were people treating her deformity as a “gift from God”? Were they saying she was the reincarnation of a deity? Were they hoping for blessings? We don’t know. All the articles are vague on that matter.

So here’s hoping the baby gets the help she needs. She doesn’t need people treating her with pity or anyone treating her with reverence for something she had no control over. My worry is that, if people are treating her as godly, there may be an effort to block any operation to fix the problem. Let’s hope that’s not the case.

(Thanks to Matthew for the link)

