The stories of weird religious superstition are endless.

According to human rights groups, hundreds of young children are being exploited because of an ancient fertility tradition that leaves many children deformed and sold into begging. It is reported that “Many of them have been sold off by their families to begging mafias, who exploit a tradition that the “rat children” are sacred offerings to Shah Daula, the shrine’s 17th century Sufi saint.”

LINK: ‘Rat people’ forced to beg on Pakistan’s streets

BBC Reports:

According to a legend dating back hundreds of years a woman who’s unable to conceive will become fertile by offering prayers here. But at a price.

The couple can expect their first-born to be handicapped – a rat child with a tiny head. And it must be handed over to the shrine.

The legend is very much alive. One woman, who had come to pray for a son, said God would punish anyone who did not honour their commitment.

*snip*

Experts say they are being deliberately deformed by criminal gangs operating around the shrine who then use them for begging.

Many of the children handed over to the shrine or those claiming to represent it end up on the streets.

At the main bus-stand in Gujrat we quickly came across a group of several rat-children with their owners.

They all have the distinctive shrunken heads; they’re severely handicapped and can’t even speak.

With their owners close behind, they approach passengers sitting in their minibuses waiting to leave. They demand money and they get it.

And as the article explains, it is widely believed that these children are “closer to God” and must not be ignored or else God will be pissed off at those who refuse to give them money.

Pakistan’s government says it has tried to crack down on exploitation “rat children” and says it plans to set up a shelter in Gujrat to rehabilitate them.