Papky

Pruthviraj Patil has suffered from hypertrichosis, a rare genetic condition also known as Werewolf Syndrome, since birth. He is believed to be one of only 50 people in the world with the condition. Papky.com has previously covered a story about a Chinese man who suffers from the same condition.

“I would like to get the hair removed but even after laser treatment it grows back. The doctors don’t have any answers,” he said. He has even tried a range of treatments – including homeopathy, traditional Indian Ayurvedic remedies which was unsuccessful.

The thick matted hair that covers Pruthviraj’s face has caused him to be stared at and bullied throughout his childhood, and he rarely leaves his home village out of the fear of being ridiculed or bullied.

When Prithviraj was born villagers told his mother she had given birth to a God. Others thought he was a supernatural creature and a bad omen because of his unique appearance. Anita, 32, admits his condition had been hard for the family to accept. “Why did God do this to us? He looks so odd and wherever we go people throng to see him,” she said.

But despite his abnormal hair growth Pruthviraj, who is from the district of Sangli, near Bombay, is healthy, sporty and popular at school.

“When I first went to school I used to get bullied and other children would laugh at me, but now they treat me like normal,” he said.“We all play cricket together and the hair doesn’t stop me running or catching the ball, so it is not a big problem.”

Plastic surgeon Vinay Saoji, who has examined Pruthviraj, said that the boy was suffering from one of the rarest genetic conditions.

Such traits, reminding us of real or supposed evolutionary lost characteristics are called atavisms. They usually appear because genes for previously existing  phenotypical traits are not discarded from the genome, but often preserved and just inhibited by our DNA. Even if these genes are not expressed, a mutation can reactivate them.