“Shah Daula’s Rat Children”: A barbaric tradition in Pakistan

Unfortunately, people with disabilities are frequently used to make money especially in the third world’s poor countries. “Rat children” in Pakistan are affected with microcephaly. Children with this condition have much smaller heads and brains than normal human beings. Traditionally, begging mafia play keen role by turning them future beggars. These children’s skulls were deformed when they were infants by wearing iron helmets.

Most of these unlucky kids reside just at the shrine of Hazrat Shah Daula and beg for alms from passersby.

An outdated barbaric tradition is still being followed in Pakistan. Infants’ heads are covered by iron helmets in order to halt the expansion of the skull. Children gradually develop rat-like features, with their small faces and malformed skulls. As they grow older, children are made to begging on the streets.

These unfortunate kids are known as “Daula Shah k chohaa,” in Urdu or “rat children.” in English. There is a strong existing belief in Pakistan which claims you will fail or miserable in life if you don’t give charity to these rat children.

The scary tradition has been followed for a long time. It is also said that the organized criminals abduct young children, malform their skulls, and then throw them out to beg.

It appears that this barbaric practice has a long history. Public casually call these miserable children as “Shah Daula’s rats” or “Daule Shah’s rats”. Muslim saint Hazrat Shah Daula lived in the 17th century in the area of Western Punjab. He claimed that he had the ability to cure female infertility. However, the women had to give their firstborn to the shrine in order for their future offspring to avoid being born with disabilities.

Tradition holds that the first infants born following Shah’s prayer were microcephalic. They were abducted or sent to beg while being supervised by Shah Daula. Later, a temple was built in his honour in Varedia, Gujarat which is the famous city of Pakistan. Since then, people have come here to beg for the blessing of kids.

People frequently wonder, “Are Rat Children the outcome of harsh fate or cruel tradition?” Here, needy parents have largely abandoned children with deformed skulls. To survive, they are reliant on the alms given by temple worshippers. Chua are those individuals who solicit alms from the public while representing green capes.

The Government of Pakistan restricted parents from leaving their newborn children in the Shah Daula Temple in the 1960s. But the harsh custom soon returned. Criminals started using “rat children” to make money by forcing them to beg on the streets. Individuals continue to give them alms out of fear that if they refuse charity to these crippled people, their own children will acquire disabilities.

The temple of Shah Daula is referred to as the “abode of fertility.” Couples who are having trouble in starting a family keep coming here in the faith that Hazrat Shah Daula’s prayers would be effective. The sacred site became a shelter for abandoned and deformed kids who eventually worked as a source of income for criminals.