A man who was called the “dirtiest man in the world” has died in Iran. A few months ago, he was persuaded to wash himself

Author:
Anhelina Sheremet
Date:

In Iran, a 94-year-old man who was nicknamed the "dirtiest man in the world" for not taking a shower for more than half a century has died of old age.

The Guardian writes about this with reference to the Iranian state publication Irna.

A man named Amou Haji died on October 23 in the village of Deighah in the southern province of Fars.

Haji was covered in soot and lived in a shack made of cinder blocks. He did not wash himself with water or soap for more than 60 years, because he was "afraid of getting sick." The villagers said that in his youth he had "emotional upheavals" because of which he refused to wash. A few months before his death, the villagers persuaded him to wash himself for the first time.

In 2014, the Tehran Times reported that Haji ate road-killed animals, smoked a pipe filled with animal excrement, and believed cleanliness would make him sick.

After Hajiʼs death, the unofficial record may go to an Indian who also did not wash for most of his life. In 2009, the Hindustan Times reported that Kailash "Kalau" Singh, from a village outside the holy city of Varanasi, had not washed for more than 30 years in an effort to help end "all the problems facing the nation". He gave up water in favor of what he called a "fire bath": every evening he lights a fire, smokes marijuana, stands on his feet, and prays to Shiva. The man explained that it was like using water to take a bath: "a fire bath also helps kill all the germs and infections in the body."