Month-Old Baby Bursts Into Flames Whenever He Sweats

Medical staff have alleged that for the 4th time in his short life – Rahul has broken in to flame with no external source of ignition.

According to doctors Rahul may have caught fire as a result of the excretion of gases through his skin, which has caused him to suffer burns on his chest and head.

“The baby is stable and treatment is on for burn injuries and scars. Life-saving support systems are there for Rahul in the intensive care unit,’ said R. Narayana Babu, head of paediatrics at the hospital.

He told IBN Live that the baby will be under observation and may be discharged after two weeks depending on his condition.

Rahul (1)
Rahul, from Villupuram, an area 100miles from Chennai, suffered the first incident when he was just nine days old.

‘People thought I set him on fire deliberately,’ his mother, Rajeswari said.

According to the parents, their community ostracized them, and Rahul’s father, a farm worker, says they have lost everything as a result of his son’s condition.

Rajeswari alleges that Rahul has suffered four episodes of spontaneous fire and suffered burn injuries, the last incident taking place last month.

However, doctors at Kilpauk Medical College Hospital in Chennai treating Rahul say they only have the mother’s version of events to go on as the baby boy does not have any medical records.

‘The baby has to be carefully observed. We have to investigate whether the ailment is genetic,’ Prof. R. Jayachandran of the department of pediatrics at Kilpauk Medical College Hospital said.

‘We will carry out tests to find out the kind of gases generated by the baby’.’

Not all believe the mother’s story of self-combustion.

‘Spontaneous Human Combustion-syndrome is a hoax theory,’ the hospital’s burns specialist Dr J Jagan Mohan told The Times of India.

‘A baby catching fire spontaneously is not possible.

‘Alcoholics have a very small percentage of alcohol secreted in their sweat but even that wouldn’t generate a fire.’

Until a proper diagnosis is made, Rahul is given treatment that is only symptomatic, with the administration of antibiotics.