A FATHER-to-be has spoken for the first time
about living with NO FACE – and how he’s
terrified he has passed his condition onto his
unborn child.
Mohammad Latif Khatana, 32, from Kashmir,
India, cannot see or work due to the severe
creases on his face.
Strangers spit on the road as he walks, disgusted
by his features.
He is now over the moon that his wife is seven
months pregnant, but worried his son or
daughter will look like him.
He said: “I cannot wait to be a father and have
some happiness in my life. But I worry every day
and pray my child is not born like me.”
Latif, who lives high in the mountains with his 25-
year-old wife Salima, in Tuli Bana, in Jammu and
Kashmir, travels to Srinagar for four months of
the year to beg and find money.
He was born with a small lump on his face but it
has continued to grow and form huge flaps
across his face, making it impossible for him to
see.
Unsightly … people jeer and spit at poor Latif in
the street
He said: “My mother still cries when she looks at
me. She feels so much guilt and cannot
understand why her youngest boy was cursed.”
Latif is the youngest of two brothers and three
sisters and is the only child suffering this
condition.
Without his siblings he would’ve lived a very
lonely childhood without friends.
“Nobody wanted to play with me as a child,” he
added. “The boys in my village used to beat me
and taunt me every day. I lost my left eye when I
was eight years old and they used to call me one-
eye freak.”
As an adult Latif has continued to face many
struggles. He is a strong man but because of his
failing eyesight and facial condition no-one will
give him a job.
He said: “I’d love to do an honest day’s work like
a normal man providing for his family. It would
make me so proud, but no one will give me a
chance. I have to beg and hope people take pity
on me so that I can feed my family.”
Worries … Latif fears his unborn child will inherit
his condition
Latif, who sometimes earns 400 Rupees (£5) a
day begging, remembers many occasions when
people spat on him as they walked past.
He recalled: “Three young girls walked past me
once and they spat at my feet and ran away with
scarves covering their mouths. I was so
embarrassed.
“I was shocked at how cruel they were. I felt very
depressed for days. But I had to pick myself up
and get on with it.”
However, four years ago Latif finally met the love
of his life.
His parents tried hard to find him a wife but no
girl would come forward, until Latif heard about
Salima.
“My wife has only one foot, and so for many
years she struggled to meet a husband. As soon
as we met we knew we were right for one
another,” he remembers. “We were both
medically incomplete, we were a good match.”
They married in a traditional Muslim summer
ceremony with 400 guests, in August 2008, and
have been very happy ever since.
He added: “I feel very blessed to have met
Salima, she is good for me.
Shelter … Latif’s begs from his makeshift home in
Srinagar for fourth months a year
“I feel a little normal now I have a wife, a little
more complete than I did before. And now that
she is pregnant with our first child I am even
happier. No matter how I look I am a happy man
right now.”
But Latif, who is in no pain and takes no
medication, still worries his child will be born
with the same facial condition.
He said: “We can’t afford to see a doctor now,
we’re too poor. And no doctor in the past has
told me not to have children. I can only hope
and pray that our baby will be healthy.”
Latif’s brother decided to sell some land eight
years ago to pay for a trip to send Latif to see a
doctor. But there was nothing they could do.
He remembered: “The doctor told me that my
condition was due to a solar eclipse when my
mother was pregnant with me. I don’t know
whether to believe him.
“And now there is so many veins going through
my creases that surgery would be too dangerous.
I have lost all hope of help.
“This is how I’ll look forever.”
Source: Thesun.co.uk
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