TNR News Network
Dharamshala: Most people can’t imagine going more than a few days without a bath. For Amou Haji, an Iranian hermit from the village of Dejgah, that period stretched into an astonishing six decades.
Infamous internationally as the “world’s dirtiest man”, Haji avoided water and soap for over 60 years, convinced it would make him seriously ill.
A local health worker who interacted with Haji said his fear of cleanliness dated back to early life trauma. “He told me that after a series of personal misfortunes, he came to believe bathing would destroy his health. This belief became his way of life,” recalled the health worker.
Life in filth, yet remarkable health
Haji’s habits were as unusual as they were unhygienic. He consumed the meat of dead animals found along roadsides, drank water from rusty cans and muddy puddles, and preferred burning his hair over trimming it. Locals said he also smoked animal waste in a pipe. Despite these extreme practices, medical check-ups conducted in recent years found him largely free from serious disease.
The bath that changed everything
In mid-2022, after repeated persuasion from well-wishers in his village, Haji agreed to bathe for the first time in decades. Not long after, his health began to decline. He died in October 2022 at the age of 94. While some villagers linked his illness to the bath, doctors suggest it was more likely a coincidence tied to his age.
Haji’s story became a global curiosity — a man who defied modern hygiene yet managed to live nearly a century. His life remains a reminder of how deeply personal beliefs can shape human behaviour, even to the point of defining one’s legacy, says an analyst.
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