A village in northern India boasts of having the highest number of twins born in one location.
In the past fifty years the village,Mohammedpur Umri, has witnessed the birth of over 100 identical twins. The villagers say the number could have been more than 200 if there had been better health facilities available. But the phenomenon has puzzled researchers.
"In the last 25 to 30 years, a large number of twins have been born in this village. At least 108 twins can be found right now in this village. There are also many cows in this village that have given birth to twin calves," said Mohammed Mustafa, a father of twin sons.
Out of the total population of 6000, Mohammedpur Umri has more than 108 twins, informed the village elders to ANI. They also said that a number of genetic researchers visited the village in a bid to find out the reason behind this occurrence. The number of twins in this village is supposedly the highest in the world at one location.
"Our parents used to say that this trend had started here some 90 years ago. Before that, there were three or four sets of twins. But at a later stage, more and more identical twins were born. In last 50 years, this has become a routine," 70-year-old Rauf Alam told Daily Mail. It also reported that the 80 percent of the village population is Muslim and 20 percent Hindu. However, birth of identical twins can be seen both the communities.
Experts took samples of the soil and water in the village and their blood samples to research but failed to reach any conclusion.
The reason for this phenomenon may be the minerals in the groundwater that the villagers drink or even the insecticides and pesticides used, believe some researchers. Till date no proper or extensive study has been undertaken.
According to local Mohammad Hasan, there are other villages surrounding Mohammedpur Umri, but they do not have twins.
This extraordinary happening has led to many strange incidents in the village. A set of twin brothers even exchanged places inside prison. They simply wore similar clothes and let the one inside the prison walk out of the police station, reported ANI.
