9-Year-old girl who was called a witch by villagers recovers from surgery to remove growth that left half her face covered in hair

A father has described how his daughter was shunned by other children because she was born with a rare condition that left half of her face covered with hair.

People called Bhawana Thami, who is now nine years old, names like 'monster' because of her disfigurement in her village in the Dolakha district, some 345km from Kathmandu, in Nepal.

The condition was the result of a rare mole disease which left untreated would have become cancerous.

If that wasn't enough, the family suffered from the villagers' belief that a child with such an appearance must have been a witch and were therefore isolated from the community.


Getting her confidence back: Bhawana Thami poses for a photograph after most of the hair from her face was removed

Her protective father Kaluman went so far as to never allow his daughter to look into a mirror but one day a journalist who took her photo and showed it to her causing the then eight-year-old disgust, fear and shock.

But Bhawana has now undergone plastic surgery which her father hopes will help her to begin leading a normal life.

The first operation was carried out in Kathmandu with the support of charity Child Workers in Nepal last year.


Plastic surgeons remove Bhawana's last piece of hair from her face during a surgery at Model Hospital, in Kathmandu this year

A year later she has had her second operation which completely removed the hair from her face.

However, she will have to have a third operation when she turns 14.

She has already returned to her village and been seen playing with other children.

Bhawana's appearance is changing every day since her operations took place and now she enjoys activities at school and local villagers have finally accepted her and her family into the community.