Rahul Karnan is barely two months old infant kid, but his body shows some supernatural phenomena which results in emitting fire from his Skin which even burnt his clothes and parts of his house.
Rahul admitted at ICU of Kilpauk Medical College hospital Chennai
Rahul Karnan was born to poor  Karnan and Rajeshwari of T Parangini village near Tindivanam in Villupuram district of Tamil Nadu on May 22 this year. Within 9 days of his birth he started emitting fire from his body and his skin got abnormal burns and scars and  within last 2 months this fire emitting episode has occurred 4 times.  On the last occasion at their native village the fire from him spread across their hut and destroyed all their belongings.
Initially he was taken to  the Villupuram Medical College from where the baby was discharged three days later. After coming home, he suffered burns again. Later he was admitted to  JIPMER before he was brought to Kilpauk Medical College Hospital at Chennai on Thursday. He has been admitted to Neo Natal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) of KMCH Chennai.
Doctors say that this is a rare condition called  spontaneous human combustion (SHC) of which only 200 cases have been recorded in last 300 years, the latest one in United States in 2010.
No one is able to give a proper explanation behind this phenomenon. Â There are many theories about the poorly understood condition, ranging from high acetone content in the body to the paranormal. Some doctors say everyone has certain amount of alcohol present in their blood and when its content is high, it combines with the gases in the body; resulting in burns.
According to Dr R. Narayana Babu, HOD Pediatrics, who is treating Rahul, “The body burns spontaneously due to combustible gases emitting from the patient’s body, without any external source of ignition. Clothes and other things nearby that are inflammable may also catch fire. We have not identified the gas yet”.
Another Doctor Jayaraman says, Â “More than 20 years ago, we saw a similar case of a 23-year-old man, but it went undocumented. Several theories of SHC do the rounds but they are very vague and not backed by scientific proof. Though there is no special cure for the condition, it can be treated like a regular burn injury”.