India: 20-Year-Old Woman Trapped Inside Six-Year-Old's Body

A 20-year-old Indian woman has a rare hormone disorder, which has trapped her in the body of a six-year-old.

Laxmi Yadav, a resident of Gurgaon near India's capital Delhi, who craves to live a life like other adults, is just 3feet 3 tall and weighs only three stones.

Yadav's body stopped growing when she turned five and she wears clothes that fit six-year-olds, a report in the Mirror suggests.

Yadav hasn't reached puberty and perhaps never will.

"I've been bullied all my adult life for being small. I rarely go out as I'm scared I will be harmed," Yadav said.

"I fear I'll be sexually attacked... Being so small, I'd be an easy target. So I never go anywhere alone," she added.

Yadav's father, 58-year-old Bahadur, works as a security guard and his monthly wages amount to 8,000 rupees (£88) a month. Her condition could have been treated if she had received a £670 drug when she was 16, but her family could not afford it.

"Available treatments are much more effective when ­started at an early stage. Laxmi will remain as she is unless there is a proper investigation done on her and she's ­treated accordingly," Dr Ritesh Gupta, an endocrinologist at Fortis Hospital, New Delhi, said.

Yadav has two siblings: 22-year-old brother Azad and 15-year-old sister Suman. All three siblings went to the same school.

"I was lucky to have school friends who never bullied me and often protected me. But when I stepped away from my family or circle of friends people were always nasty. I hate meeting new people as it hurts getting stared at and bullied every time. I've now learnt to ignore them and sometimes I'll be rude and tell them what I think," Yadav said.

Yadav has finished school and wants to do a course in computer science. She knows she may continue to face difficulties and struggle in life, but derives all her motivation from her sister and mother.

She does not trust any man with marriage and would rather stay single.

"I'm frightened of putting my future into the hands of a bad person. I don't want anyone in my life who might mistreat me then disown me when he wishes. I can't have kids anyway, so what's the point?" she said.

She recently got a job as a sales assistant that pays her 5,000 rupee (£55) a month.