BBC News | South Asia | The rat children of Pakistan

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2021-05-28 17:00:08

Watch Richard Galpin's reportOn an ordinary weekday at the shrine of Shah Dola in the Punjabi city of Gujrat, hundreds of worshippers come to celebrate the life of one of Pakistan's most revered Sufi saints.

Women unable to conceive come to pray at the templeBy the tomb itself dozens of women pray intensely. By doing so, they believe, they will be blessed with a child.

According to a legend dating back hundreds of years a woman who's unable to conceive will become fertile by offering prayers here. But at a price.

The couple can expect their first-born to be handicapped - a rat child with a tiny head. And it must be handed over to the shrine.

The legend is very much alive. One woman, who had come to pray for a son, said God would punish anyone who did not honour their commitment.

"Rat children" grow up with mental and physical handicaps Experts say they are being deliberately deformed by criminal gangs operating around the shrine who then use them for begging.