99-year-old from Jharkhand can't survive without eating mud

Karu Paswan, a resident of Jharkhand's Sahebganj district has developed a weird craving for mud and gobble around one kilogram of it every day.

99-year-old Karu, who claims to be born in 1919, said that his addicting to eat mud started when he was just 11-year old.

But less did he know that what he started due to poverty, will eventually become a habit.

"I was really frustrated with my financial condition, as I had to feed ten children. I wanted to die and hence started eating mud. But later I developed an addiction to it and now could not refrain myself from having it," he told ANI.

The elder son of Karu, Siya Ram Paswan said the family member tried to stop him a couple of times, but he would not listen to them.

"We tried to stop him a number of times, but he doesn't listen to us. He picks up pieces of mud from here and there and eats it," Siya Ram Paswan continues.

Surprisingly, even after having this strange habit, Karu is fit and healthy.

He was also awarded by Bihar's Sabour Krishi Vidyalaya in 2015 for this act.

This craving of Karu for inedible stuff is thought to be a form of Pica syndrome, where a person develops an appetite for substances without any nutritional value.