(IN): Crazy taste keeps boy in shackles - twelve-year-old feasts on insects & re

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http://www.telegraphindia.com/1070426/asp/jamshedpur/story_7699466.asp

 

Crazy taste keeps boy in shackles

- twelve-year-old feasts on insects & reptiles

JAYESH THAKER

 

Jamshedpur, April 25: Snakes, lizards, scorpions, frogs and insects

are his favourites.

 

Neighbours prefer to keep themselves at bay even as parents of Pankaj

Kumar Singh feel jittery about his unusual behaviour.

 

The 12-year-old Pankaj, a resident of Bolaidih village under Gamharia

block of Seraikela-Kharsawan district, started savouring reptiles from

a very young age.

 

" I was frightened at the sight of Pankaj eating a frog when he was

just two years old. He ate the body and threw away the legs, " Pankaj's

mother Saroj Devi said.

 

The family is now forced to keep the teenager tied to a chain lest he

runs away to a nearby jungle to prey on reptiles and insects.

 

Though Pankaj cannot speak or attend to daily chores on his own, he is

an expert in catching and eating poisonous snakes and scorpions. His

mother said once Pankaj killed a monkey (langur) at their village in

Chapra.

 

" The entire village feared that langur. Pankaj also catches bulls by

their horns , " she said.

 

Asked whether Pankaj eats regular meals, his 16-year-old brother

Dheeraj said: " He generally does but often skips meals at the sight of

any insect or reptile. Sometimes Pankaj also manages to untie himself.

We have now star- ted tying a rope around his waists and the chain is

locked to a grill. We are also frightened of him. "

 

" Once Pankaj ran away to a mountain to satiate his lust for things

humans hate. We found him eating a chameleon. We experienced lot of

difficulty in bringing Pankaj back home, " his father Anil Singh, who

was posted as a driver in the army, told The Telegraph.

 

He added that they have spent more than Rs 3 lakh for Pankaj's

treatment but nothing positive has come out.

 

" We took him to the All India Institute of Medical Science (Delhi),

division of Neuroradiology, the CT scanning at Benaras Hindu

University and several clinical psychologists of Ranchi. Doctors

described his condition as a case of profound mental retardation with

behavioural problems and an IQ below 20, " Singh said.

 

" My economic condition is not very strong and I have left Pankaj to

his fate. We are taking every precaution, including tying him with a

chain, so that he remains at home all the time, " he added.

 

A social activist of the village said the Singhs have no history of

mental illness.